RICHMOND, Va., Nov. 1, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In a year of
critical healthcare needs, COVID-19 complicated caregiving, but the
factors driving an accelerated need for care were largely the same
as in years past, found Genworth's Caregiving in COVID-19 Beyond
Dollars Study 2021.
Genworth has conducted the study approximately every three years
since 2010 as part of its mission to help families prepare for the
challenges of their and their loved ones' aging. The study
documents the impact of caregiving on families beyond the cost of
long-term care services, which Genworth tracks in its annual Cost
of Care Survey.
"While the experience of caregiving can be rewarding, the
physical, financial, emotional and psychological strain of caring
for a loved one is deep and real for caregivers, and their
family and friends," said Brian
Haendiges, President and CEO, Genworth U.S. Life Insurance.
"At Genworth, we know this all too well. In addition to our more
than 40 years helping our policyholders and their families navigate
these challenges, many of us, like those families across the US,
have a personal long-term care story. No one is immune to aging or
its impacts, and this year's research further emphasizes the need
for us to work together to solve the long-term care crisis before
us."
Following are some highlights of this year's study:
Growing Needs
Increasing lifespans mean that the likelihood that you or a
loved one will live through an event that requires long-term care
is increasing as well. As the population gets older and medicine
improves, the prevalence in the population of conditions that
require long term care―and the length of time that people live with
such conditions―increase as well. And as loved ones adapt to their
"new normal," they prefer the comforts of home. Findings
include:
- Care is becoming more complex: 49% of care recipients
require help in "all aspects of daily living" and only 8% needing
"very minor assistance," up and down from 39% and 12% respectively
in 2018. Moreover, relative to the 2018 study, more people suffered
from age-related physical limitations (47%, up from 44%) and
accidents requiring rehabilitation (23%, up from 21%), but the
biggest jump was in cognitive impairments (32%, up from 26%).
- Needs are becoming more acute: Care is lasting longer,
with the average duration of a care event, according to this study,
going from 3 years in 2018 to 3.5 years in 2021.
- People prefer care at home, but there are challenges: A
large majority of care recipients ―79% in 2021― prefer at-home care
to facility care. Echoing similar data from 2018, in 42% of cases,
a loved one provided care in a care recipient's home, and in 26% of
cases, a professional caregiver provided the in-home care. But
between 2018 and 2021, the proportion of care recipients who moved
in with a loved one to receive care dropped significantly, from 21%
in 2018 to 12% in 2021, possibly attributable to concerns about
COVID-19 exposure, especially if the familial caregiver has
children living at home as well.
Family Matters
As the need for care increases, family members are filling in
the gap, with one in three Americans reporting that they
unexpectedly became caregivers, with adults reporting the need to
carve out an average of approximately 19 hours a week to provide
care. However, the responsibility to provide care does not fall
equally across families―nor do the hardships imposed by doing so.
Findings include:
- Providing care affects family members' ability to work.
Many family caregivers, including 56% of women and 45% of men,
reported that providing care "negatively affected" their ability to
satisfy the requirements of employment. Similarly, 40% of men and
27% of women believed that they had lost a majority or more of
their annual income as a result of caregiving.
- But increased flexibility on the part of employers due to
the pandemic may have reduced the strain; in 2018, 46% of
caregivers reported having to work fewer hours and 35% cited
"repeated absences" due to the need to provide care, these figures
dropped to 38% and 27% respectively in 2021. However, it is unclear
whether flexibility from employers will continue
post-pandemic.
- The financial burden of providing care is weighing more
heavily. In 2021, familial caregivers were about as likely to
report using savings/retirement funds (66% vs. 63%), cutting back
on luxury expenditures (63% vs. 60%) for care compared to 2018, but
they were considerably more likely to report reducing contributions
to savings/retirement funds (54% vs. 42%), spending funds intended
to be given as an inheritance (50% vs. 38%), selling personal
possessions (43% vs. 35%), cashing out life insurance policies (41%
vs. 26%) and borrowing money from friends or family members (40%
vs. 31%).
- But the burden goes beyond economics. Of women, 59%
reported that providing care had negatively affected their own
health, compared to 43% of men. Almost half (48%) of in-home
caregivers reported symptoms of stress, 46% reported less time to
spend on themselves or others and 42% reported being in a negative
mood. In addition, significant portions of family caregivers also
reported experiencing sleep deprivation, insomnia, a sense of
isolation, guilt and/or weight gain as a result of providing
care.
A Shared Experience
Overall, the physical, financial, emotional, and psychological
strain of caregiving is experienced across demographics. Our data
shows that the experience of needing care and providing care for a
loved one does not vary depending on one's ethnicity. While there
were some differences in perspective, the vast majority of
experience and approach data does not differ significantly based on
one's identified ethnicity. Survey participants this year were 18%
Hispanic, 10% African American and 5% Asian, reflective of how
ethnic populations are represented in the 2020 U.S. census.
Looking Ahead to Better Outcomes
In a world where more people are caregivers, Americans are
looking at the experiences of their loved ones and thinking about
how they can age as comfortably as possible―while reducing strain
on their families. Long Term Care Insurance can provide flexibility
to receive professional-level care either at home or in assisted
living facilities1, an increasingly appealing offering
as the need for care becomes more likely. Findings include:
- Long Term Care Insurance (LTCI) helps reduce financial
hardship. In only 23% of situations did care recipients use
some form of insurance providing coverage; in 14% of cases, LTC
insurance was used, with life insurance riders allowing for
long-term care and annuities with care provisions also being
utilized. Of beneficiaries who utilized LTC insurance coverage, 61%
reported out-of-pocket costs of $500
or less, despite being more likely to utilize costly assisted
living facilities.
- Long Term Care Insurance (LTCI) can provide flexibility in
where care is received, as well as peace of mind. Holders of
Long Term Care Insurance (25%) were significantly more likely than
non-holders (11%) to receive care in an assisted living facility,
where residents may have more space and better accommodations than
nursing homes typically provide. And those who were able to take
advantage of LTCI benefits were less likely to experience stress as
a result of the need for care: 34% of policyholders, as opposed to
47% of non-holders.
- People are taking notice and thinking ahead. As
previously reported, Genworth's COVID-19 Consumer Sentiment survey
found that adults' attitudes toward long-term care and financial
planning has changed, with 4 out of 5 adults having already taken
some action to increase their level of financial preparedness due
to lessons learned from COVID-19.
Planning Resources
Planning well in advance expands the choices available for care
later as people grow older. Following are resources that can
help with the planning process:
- Visit
https://www.genworth.com/aging-and-you/finances/cost-of-care.html
to learn more about the cost of long term care in your area and how
costs have changed over time.
- Learn more about the physical, financial, emotional, and
psychological strain caregiving can have on family, friends, and
society.
- To explore long term care financing options, please visit
genworth.com/longtermcare
About the Beyond Dollars Study 2021
Genworth sponsored the Beyond Dollars Study in 2010, 2013, 2015,
2018 and now in 2021 to understand and share the perspectives of
care recipients, familial caregivers and their wider support
network.
Genworth conducted its latest Beyond Dollars Study in
April 2021. The initial research
population included 4,695 participants, of whom 1,325 qualified to
participate based on their situations and experience. Qualified
participants included 963 people providing long term care to loved
ones (caregivers), 299 care Recipients and 63 family members with
detailed knowledge of a long-term care event in their family (but
not responsible for providing care).
When extrapolating to the total population of people requiring
long term care services, this study looks at the responses provided
by caregivers, the largest, most representative group, as opposed
to the portion of survey participants qualifying as care
recipients, a group that skews from the total population by nature
of their physical and/or cognitive ability to participate in this
online survey.
40% percent of caregivers were providing care for a parent,
step-parent or parental in-law (23% for their mother, 10% for their
father). 46% were caring for a spouse and 3% for a grandparent. 8%
were providing long-term care for a sibling or child.
Caregivers were essentially evenly split between male and
female, challenging a commonly held assumption that the caregiving
role predominantly becomes women's responsibility. Their average
age was 51, and 72% were married. 60% of the loved ones receiving
care were women, with an average age of 61, of whom 34% were
married. A dedicated effort was made to ensure the survey
population was ethnically representative of the United States.
Click here to read the Executive Summary of Genworth's
Beyond Dollars Study 2021.
About Genworth Financial
Genworth Financial, Inc. (NYSE: GNW) is a Fortune 500
provider of products, services and solutions that help families
address the financial challenges of aging. Headquartered in
Richmond, Virginia, we apply our
nearly 150 years of experience each day to helping people navigate
caregiving options and fund their long term care needs. Genworth is
also the parent company of publicly traded Enact Holdings,
Inc. (Nasdaq: ACT), a leading U.S. mortgage insurance
provider. For more information on Genworth, please
visit https://www.genworth.com/. From time to time Enact
separately releases financial and other information about its
operations. This information can be found
at https://ir.enactmi.com/.
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SOURCE Genworth Financial, Inc.