Military families often face caregiving duty

Higher-income military families may be more likely than comparable civilian families to be providing care, or to expect to be providing care, for elderly relatives.

First Command Financial Services, a financial services company that focuses on the military market, today published a look at military family caregiving in a summary of results from a monthly survey series. Each survey includes about 530 U.S. consumers ages 25 to 70 with annual household incomes of at least $50,000.

First Command has defined “middle-class military families” as being military families headed by senior noncommissioned officers or by commissioned officers in pay grades E-6 and above.

About 36 percent of the surveyed middle-class families either are providing care for loved ones or expect to be providing care, the company said.

Only 22 percent of the comparable civilian families are caregiver families.