Snapshot of the Post-9/11 Caregiver

Published at 4:22 am, April 1, 2014

Amazon.com(NEW YORK) — The following numbers are drawn from the Rand Military Caregivers Study:

There are 1.1 million post-9/11 caregivers.
59 percent are female.
37 percent are under between 18-30.
49 percent are between 31-55.
57 percent are white, 21 percent are Hispanic and 10 percent are African-American.
33 percent are spouses of the person they’re caring for.
25 percent are parents of the person they’re caring for.
23 percent are friends or neighbors of the person they’re caring for.
In 15 years, experts see increased risk of people needing to find alternative care as parents age or pass away.
32 percent of post-9/11 caregivers have a 70 percent-or-higher rating of how severely disabled their loved one is.
If you’re the spouse of a caregiver, you’re spending on average 14 hours a week more on caregiving than other caregivers.

On the need to offset income loss:

Rand has only identified three programs that offset income loss — one through the Veterans Administration, one through the Department of Defense and one from a non-profit organization.
Missed work for post-9/11 caregivers annually costs $5.9 billion.
28 percent of post-9/11 caregivers quit their jobs altogether.
16 percent of post-9/11 caregivers moved to a job that was better at accommodating for their schedule but paid less.
39 percent cut back on hours.
48 percent took unpaid time off from work.
On average, they’re missing four days a month.

On the need to expand health coverage, including mental health coverage, for post-9/11 caregivers:

28 percent of post-9/11 caregivers have no usual source of health care.
31 percent of post-9/11 caregivers have received care from a mental health professional in the past year.
84 percent found that counselling somewhat or very helpful.
Roughly two-thirds of caregivers with probable depression have not received care from a mental health professional in the past year.
38 percent of post-9/11 caregivers met the criteria for a probable major depressive disorder.
Post-9/11 military caregivers had roughly five times the odds of meeting the criteria for probable depression and scored an average of 19 points higher on anxiety symptoms than non-caregivers.

On the need for expanded respite care for caregivers:

Rand identified only nine organizations that provide respite care, including public and private organizations.
The Lifespan Respite Care Act of 2006 authorizes Congress to spend approximately $288 million between fiscal years 2007 and 2011 to help family caregivers access affordable and high-quality respite care. Since 2009, only $2.5 million has been allocated annually to the program.
The number of hours people spend per week giving care correlates with an increased risk of depression.
12 percent of post-9/11 caregivers spend 40 hours per week or more providing care.
5 percent of post-9/11 caregivers spend 80 hours a week or more.
20 percent of post-9/11 caregivers say they have used respite care.