Sec. 2. Findings

360 words·~2 min read·/bill/113/s/2866/is/section-2

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Congress finds the following: More than 65,000,000 unpaid caregivers provide care for a chronically ill, disabled, or aged family member or friend during any given year. Sixty-six percent of unpaid caregivers are women. More than 37 percent of caregivers live with children or grandchildren who are under 18 years old. Unpaid family caregivers spend an average of 20 hours per week caring for their loved ones, and 13 percent of family caregivers provide 40 or more hours of care per week.

Thirty-six percent of caregivers care for a parent. Fourteen percent of caregivers care for a special needs child, including an estimated 16,800,000 caregivers who care for special needs children who are under 18 years old. In 2007, the average caregiver for someone 50 years or older spent $5,531 per year on out-of-pocket caregiving expenses, which is more than 10 percent of the median income for a family caregiver for that year. Forty-seven percent of working caregivers have used up all or most of their savings due to caregiving expenses.

Seventy-three percent of caregivers who provide care for an individual over the age of 18 are currently working or have worked while providing care. Sixty-six percent of such caregivers have had to make some modifications to their work schedule, from arriving late to work to leaving their job entirely. One in 5 caregivers have had to take time off from work. Fifty-three percent of caregivers have experienced a decline in their health as a result of caregiving, which has affected their ability to provide care.

Forty-six percent of caregivers perform medical or nursing tasks for patients with multiple physical and chronic conditions. Of these caregivers, 78 percent were in charge of managing a patient's medications, administering fluids, or administering injections. Nearly 20 percent of caregivers who assisted with medication management and 33 percent who assisted with changing dressings or bandages received no training about how to perform these tasks. The vast majority (78 percent) of caregivers indicated they need more support related to caregiving.

Home visiting programs are cost-effective and have been proven to improve outcomes for children and parents in different domains ranging from child development to family violence.