Caregiving for Loved Ones the 'New Normal' for Boomers (CNN)

According to the Family Caregiver Alliance, the “new normal” for 43.5 million American is trying to create the best quality of life for an aging relative older than 50. With almost 10,000 boomers hitting age 65 each day, experts say this is the first generation that might care for its parents as long as it cared for its children. “Now that more baby boomers are aging, the issue of family caregiving is becoming much more commonplace,” said Lynn Feinberg, senior policy advisor for AARP. “We call it the ‘new normal.’” The average caregiver in 2009 was a 49-year-old woman who had a job outside the home and spent nearly 20 hours per week providing unpaid care to her mother, according to a 2011 AARP Public Policy Institute study. The report estimated the overall economic value of family caregiving at $450 billion based on 18.4 hours of care per week.