Most older Americans, age 50 and older, are split between seeing older adults and their families (white) and the government (blue patterned) as primarily responsible for caregiving costs. A greater proportion of caregivers see the government as primarily responsible compared to non-caregivers. Chi-square tests show a significant difference in attitudes between caregivers and non-caregivers regarding primary responsibility for costs (p < 0.05).
ABSTRACT
Background
Rising numbers of older adults will intensify demand for unpaid care from family and friends (caregiving) and quality paid home, assisted living, or nursing home care (long-term care). With growing public desire for government support, it is important to explore older Americans (age ≥ 50) views, especially by caregiver status.
Participants and Setting
Data were collected from the February–March 2024 wave of the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging (NPHA), a nationally representative survey of community-dwelling U.S. adults age ≥ 50 (n = 3216).
Methods
We conducted a cross-sectional study using weighted regression models to examine older Americans’ (1) views on who should primarily pay for caregiving (government, family/older adults, or others), (2) concerns about older adults in their community being able to access quality long-term care, and (3) concerns about long-term care costs. The key predictor was whether the respondent was a caregiver of an adult ≥ age 65.
Results
Opinions on who should primarily pay for caregiving were evenly split between government (45%) and older adults and their families (45%). Caregivers were less likely to favor older adults and their families bearing primary financial responsibility relative to the government (RRR 0.68, p < 0.01). Most older Americans were somewhat or very concerned about quality long-term care access (80%) and costs (88%), and caregivers were more likely to be concerned about both access (b = 1.73, p < 0.001) and costs (b = 1.44, p < 0.01) than noncaregivers.
Conclusions
Most older Americans are concerned about access to long-term care and costs, yet remain divided on who primarily should pay for caregiving costs. Caregivers are both more concerned about long-term care access and more likely to support the government’s primary responsibility for caregiving costs than noncaregivers. Policymakers should consider more options for access to affordable, high-quality long-term care, and financial supports for caregivers.