The Costs of Caregiving

The average caregiver is 46, female, married with children and working outside the home. Although men also provide assistance, female caregivers spend as much as 50% more time providing care than male caregivers.

A four-year study by the National Alliance for Caregiving found that middle-aged women caring for an ill or disabled spouse were six times more likely to suffer depressive or anxious symptoms than those with no caregiving responsibilities. Their symptoms include:

A higher level of hostility
Less personal mastery
Less self-acceptance
A decline in happiness

Compounding this picture, more than one-third of female caregivers provide care to others while suffering from poor health themselves. Women over the age of 50 who are caregivers have a twofold increase in their risk of coronary heart disease. (CHD)

And then at work:

33% of working women caregivers decreased their work hours
29% passed up a promotion, training or assignment
22% took a leave of absence
20% switched to part-time
16% quit their jobs


When I read this today I knew I was reading about myself.