About 34.2 million Americans have provided unpaid care to an adult age 50 or older in the last 12 months.
Approximately 43.5 million caregivers have provided unpaid care to an adult or child in the last 12 months.For example, the age of care recipients or relationship of caregiver to care recipient may differ from study to study. The figures below reflect variations in the definitions and criteria used in each cited source.
For the purposes of the present fact sheet, displayed statistics generally refer to caregivers of adults. Formal caregivers are paid care providers providing care in one’s home or in a care setting (day care, residential facility, long-term care facility). A caregiver-sometimes called an informal caregiver-is an unpaid individual (for example, a spouse, partner, family member, friend, or neighbor) involved in assisting others with activities of daily living and/or medical tasks.