The Aging Problem Is Becoming a Workplace Problem

America is getting older.

We often talk about what that means for older adults: Who will help them remain at home? Who will drive them to appointments? Who will manage medications, meals, household responsibilities, and the growing complexity of daily life?

But there is another side of the aging problem that receives far less attention.

Many of the people providing that help also have jobs.

Every morning, millions of Americans go to work while simultaneously carrying responsibility for an aging parent, grandparent, spouse, relative, neighbor, or friend.

They are employees.

They are also caregivers.

And increasingly, those two responsibilities are colliding.

The caregiver sitting in the next office

According to Bank of America's Strategies to Support Working Caregivers, more than 1 in 6 working Americansassists with the care of an elderly or disabled family member or friend.

The report also notes that approximately 53 million Americans have provided unpaid care to an adult or child with special needs, including about 41.9 million who provided care to an adult over age 50.

Family members provide an estimated 95% of the non-medical care received by older adults who do not live in nursing homes.

The estimated economic value of that unpaid care is approximately $600 billion.

These aren't simply statistics about aging.

They are workforce statistics.

Behind those numbers is the employee answering a call from Mom's doctor's office between meetings.

It's the daughter trying to schedule a home care assessment during her lunch break.

It's the son leaving work early because Dad fell.

It's the manager checking medication refills while responding to emails.

And it's the employee lying awake at night wondering whether an aging parent can continue living safely at home.

Most family caregivers are also working

The responsibilities become even clearer when we look at employment.

Of approximately 48 million family caregivers cited in the report, 61% are working either full or part time.

Among those working caregivers, 67% report difficulty balancing their jobs and caregiving responsibilities.

The consequences can become significant:

• 32% report taking a leave of absence.

• 27% report moving from full-time to part-time work or reducing their hours.

• 16% report turning down a promotion.

The report also notes that 60% of working caregivers experienced work-related difficulties because of the challenge of balancing these roles.

Caregiving doesn't stop when someone clocks in.

A parent's needs can follow an employee into the workplace through phone calls, appointments, emergencies, paperwork, transportation needs and the mental burden of constantly figuring out what needs to happen next.

This is an employer problem, too

When employees struggle to balance work and caregiving, the consequences don't remain at home.

Employers can experience absenteeism, presenteeism, distracted employees, reduced working hours and, eventually, employees leaving the workforce altogether.

Bank of America's report estimates that lost productivity associated with employee caregiving costs the United States tens of billions of dollars.

There is also a talent problem.

Experienced employees may turn down promotions, retire earlier than planned or leave their jobs because the demands at home have become too difficult to manage alongside their careers.

Women can be particularly affected. The report says women account for roughly 66% of caregivers, and estimates that as many as 20% to 30% of women may retire early because of caregiving responsibilities.

For employers, supporting caregivers therefore isn't simply an act of compassion.

It is becoming a workforce strategy.

We built benefits around children. Aging may require the next evolution.

For decades, employers have recognized that employees have responsibilities outside the workplace.

Benefits evolved accordingly.

Parental leave, childcare assistance, flexible schedules and other family-oriented benefits became tools for helping employees manage parenthood while remaining productive members of the workforce.

Population aging presents employers with another challenge.

An employee may suddenly become responsible for an 82-year-old mother after a fall.

There may be doctor's appointments to coordinate, transportation to arrange, home care to research, medications to manage, insurance questions to understand and siblings to keep informed.

Unlike childcare, elder caregiving can begin unexpectedly. There isn't necessarily a predictable timeline, either. An older parent's needs can remain relatively minor for years and then change dramatically in a matter of days.

Employers are beginning to recognize this.

The report points to potential supports including flexible work arrangements, paid family leave, backup care, caregiver resource lists, geriatric care management, legal resources, counseling and digital caregiver-support platforms.

The objective isn't for employers to become caregiving organizations.

It's to make sure employees don't have to navigate one of life's most complicated responsibilities entirely on their own.

The problem is likely to grow

This isn't a temporary demographic shift.

The report highlights a significant gap developing between the number of people who may need care and the number available to provide it.

Between 2015 and 2050, the number of potential care recipients is projected to increase 84%, while the number of potential caregivers is projected to increase only 13%.

Potential care recipients living with Alzheimer's disease are projected to increase even faster.

That means more families will be asked to do more caregiving with fewer people available to share the responsibility.

And many of those family caregivers will continue showing up for work every morning.

Supporting the person who is providing the care

At Sundry Care, we spend a great deal of time thinking about how aging affects older adults and their families.

But aging doesn't happen in isolation.

When a parent begins needing help, the change can ripple through an entire family. It can affect someone's marriage, finances, children, health and career.

That means solving the challenges associated with an aging population cannot focus exclusively on the person receiving care.

We also have to think about the people coordinating that care.

Sometimes the most valuable support isn't replacing the family caregiver.

It's giving them enough support that they can go back to being a daughter, son, spouse or friend instead of trying to be a caregiver, scheduler, transportation coordinator, researcher and employee all at once.

As America grows older, supporting working caregivers may become one of the most important ways employers can support their workforce.

And one of the most important ways we can support families.