An Urgent Need to Support Children and Adolescents Who Are Caregivers for Family in the United States

Armstrong-Carter, Emma; Sege, Robert

doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2024.01.021

Cited by 1 publication

(2 citation statements)

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“…37,39 This evidence suggests that trainings with clinicians would be beneficial; researchers have offered specific recommendations for health care systems to identify and support caregiving youth in medical and community settings. 37,41 National caregiver support reform. Children contribute 3-14% of the caregiving services that informal adult caregivers provide, a substantial contribution that necessitates children's acknowledgement and inclusion in national reform efforts.…”

Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Program Spillovers. Educators and clinicians are often in positions to connect caregiving youth and their families with existing local and federal social services (e.g., Medicare, tax credits available to caregiving adults) 37,41 that may alleviate caregiving burden on youth. Rhode Island has created the first legislative mandate in US history for public schools to support caregiving students via localized programs such as teacher and social worker trainings, consistent data collection, and creating supportive groups for caregiving students.…”

Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Adolescents Provide $13 to $51 Billion Worth of Informal Family Caregiving Services to the United States Economy

Armstrong-Carter,

Gilbert,

Silfverskiold

et al. 2024

Preprint

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The US is facing a well-documented caregiving crisis, with more aging adults requiring informal caregiving in the home and fewer young people available to support them. This paper calculates the current economic value of care provided by unpaid adolescents (ages 10 to 17) to ill and disabled family members. Leveraging large scale, national datasets, we estimate that the national economic value of informal caregiving provided by adolescents is $13.44 to $50.59 billion. This figure corresponds to 3-14% of the $470 billion value of informal caregiving services provided by adults. It is 1.19 to 5.96 times the most recent estimate of the economic impact of youths’ caregiving from 2009. We also provide state-by-state estimates, which show substantial variability. By demonstrating children’s annual contribution to the US economy, we aim to inform the work of educators and policymakers to design targeted programs to support the thriving of youth, aging and disabled adults, our national economy, and our communities.

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