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Landmark Study
1.4 Million U.S. Children Care for Adults
 Most
young caregivers from lower income, single parent homes and suffer
depression, anxiety
Sept. 21, 2005 - As many as 1.4 million children in
the United States between the ages of 8 and 18 provide care for an older
adult, including approximately 400,000 youngsters who are between the
ages of 8 and 11. These and other data are contained in a landmark study
titled Child Caregivers in the United States: Findings from a National
Study, issued last week by the National Alliance on Caregiving and the
United Hospital Fund and funded by the US Administration on Aging.
Researchers also found that young caregivers half
of whom are boys are more likely to come from households with lower
incomes; are less likely to be from a two-parent home; and are more
likely than their non-caregiving counterparts to experience depression
and anxiety.
Across the nation today, almost 1.4 million
children and teens have some responsibility for the care of an older
adult most often a parent or grandparent, said Gail Gibson Hunt,
executive director of the National Alliance for Caregiving. The good
news is that most are not providing care all alone. The bad news is that
many among this vulnerable group experience behavior problems,
depression, and disruptions in school.
In the U.S., little is known about these
understudied and underserved children, who outnumber the combined total
of students in grades 3-12 in New York City, Chicago, and the District
of Columbia. All previous major U.S. caregiver surveys have included
only those over the age of 18. The experience of young caregivers has,
however, been studied in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.
There are some small studies of former child caregivers in the United
States.
We generally think of children as needing care, not providing it, said
Carol Levine, Director of the United Hospital Fund's Families and Health
Care Project. Previous international studies show that caregiving can
profoundly influence children's lives and development in a multitude of
ways. We are seeking ways to support these children and their families.
It is essential to involve young caregivers themselves in developing
services appropriate to their ages and developmental levels.
Hunt and Levine believe that new resources should
be earmarked to fund new studies about caregiving and its impact on
young providers. The researchers also called for social service, health
care, and caregiver organizations to collaborate with established groups
that serve the needs of families and children, including schools, youth
organizations such as Ys and scouting, religious groups, and other
service providers, in order to develop appropriate family-centered
services.
Josefina G. Carbonell, assistant secretary for
aging at the US Department of Health and Human Services, said, This
report contains important information on a new subgroup of family
caregivers in the United States. It will be useful to the Administration
on Aging and our Network as they plan for the future of long-term care,
the role of caregivers, and the National Family Caregiver Support
Program.
More Findings
Child Caregiver Profiles
The study, which compared groups of child caregivers with their non-caregiving
peers, found that:
Child caregivers fall into three approximately
equal age groups: 31% are aged 8 to 11; 38% are aged 12 to 15; and 31%
are aged 16 to 18.
Child caregivers are evenly balanced by gender, with boys making up
49% of the total, and girls 51%. There is an indication that boys seem
to have greater difficulties than girls, particularly in feelings of
isolation and sadness and in behavior and school problems.
Child caregivers tend to live in households with lower incomes than
non-caregivers, and they are less likely than non-caregivers to live in
two-parent households.
Seven in ten child caregivers (72%) are caring for a parent or
grandparent. One in ten (11%) is helping a sibling.
Responsibilities and Tasks
About half (49%) of the caregivers report that
they spend a lot of time caregiving.
Over half (58%) of the child caregivers help their care recipient with
at least one Activity of Daily Living (ADL) such as bathing, dressing,
getting in and out of bed or chair, toileting, and feeding.
Nearly all young caregivers help with shopping, household chores, and
preparing meals. Nearly all also spend some time just keeping the care
recipient company.
A third (30%) of child caregivers help with medications and 17% help
the care recipient communicate with doctors or nurses.
Of caregivers aged 12 and over, 15% help make calls and arrangements
for other people to help the care recipient.
While at least three-quarters of child caregivers have help with
tasks, caregivers in minority households are much less likely than those
in nonminority households to report that others help them with
caregiving tasks, including chores, meal preparation, and dressing.
35% of child caregivers in minority households report having no help
in dispensing medications, compared to 11% in non-minority households.
Impact on Behavior/School
According to parents' reports of their child's
behavior, child caregivers tend to exhibit more anxious or depressive
behavior than noncaregivers. For example, caregivers are more likely
than non-caregivers to feel at least some of the time that no one loves
them. This is evident among younger children aged 8 to 11 (36% vs. 20%)
and among 12- to 18-year-olds (23% vs. 14%).
A larger share of caregivers aged 12 to 18 have behavior problems than
do noncaregivers. In particular, they are more likely to have trouble
getting along with teachers (27% vs. 14%), to bully or act mean toward
others (24% vs. 9%), and to associate with kids who get into trouble
(17% vs. 9%).
On the positive side, 64% of child caregivers report feeling
appreciated a lot for what they do, compared to 53% of noncaregivers.
Some child caregivers report that their responsibilities have affected
their school work or school activities. For example, 20% say their
caregiving has made them miss a school or after-school activity, 15% say
it has kept them from doing school work, and 8% say it has made them
miss homework deadlines.
The survey, Child Caregivers: A First Look at an
Unstudied Population, was conducted by Mathew Greenwald & Associates,
Inc., a research firm in Washington. For additional details, see
Methodology, below.
About the Study
The National Alliance For Caregiving is a
non-profit coalition of 34 national organizations focused on issues of
family caregiving. The Alliance's mission is to be the objective
national resource on family caregiving with the goal of improving the
quality of life for families and care recipients.
The United Hospital Fund is a health services
research and philanthropic organization whose mission is to shape
positive change in health care for the people of New York and the
nation.
The survey, Child Caregivers: A First Look at an
Unstudied Population, was conducted by Mathew Greenwald & Associates,
Inc., a research firm in Washington.
Download the pdf report
here.
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