Increasingly, Americans Believe Government Should Pay for Aging Care, Study Finds

McKnight’s Home Care | By Adam Healy
 
As families and unpaid caregivers endure high out-of-pocket costs for care, a growing share of adults have called for greater government assistance for aging in place.

In 2012, about 37% of American adults believed the government should pay for elder care services. But by 2022, the share of people who believed the government should help pay these costs had grown to 51%, according to a new study published by the American Sociological Association.

The share of people who think families should foot the bill for aging care is also shrinking. In 2012, 48% of people agreed that older adults and their families should be responsible for the costs of aging in place. By 2022, the share had shrunk to 28%.

The average out-of-pocket costs of providing loved ones with unpaid care is more than $7,000 annually. And for those who are employed, caregiving can have a significant toll on work responsibilities and performance, and many are forced to forego career advancement opportunities or even delay their retirement to support aging loved ones.

A growing proportion of people also believe that the government should be primarily responsible for providing aging care services. About a quarter of respondents indicated that the government itself should help older adults with services such as housekeeping duties, grocery shopping and assistance with other activities of daily living.

However, results differed by age. Of a sample of almost 2,400 people, older adults were more likely to expect aging support from their family members. Younger adults, who are often responsible for providing unpaid care for older family members, were more likely to believe the government should offer financial assistance for aging care than older adults. 

“These results could be due to increasing pressure from an aging population or potentially a reaction to a real-world event (i.e., the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic) that unevenly affected older adults and affected families’ ability to provide care,” the researchers wrote in the study published Jan. 17. “This change in attitudes may reflect changing norms about the social programs the government should provide to older adults and changes in family expectations for care.”

On Jan. 30, congressional representatives introduced the Credit for Caring Act, which would help offset caregivers’ out-of-pocket expenses by providing a tax credit up to $5,000 for personal care, respite care, transportation assistance and other kinds of home care.