Caregivers need government help or they'll go broke

According to a recent USA Today article written by Gail Sheehy, a national expert on aging, “Three quarters of caregivers work for a living as well as look after family members who are chronically or seriously ill, or lingering with dementia.” The story, entitled “Caregivers Need Government Help or They’ll Go Broke,” asserts that, “Forty-seven percent of working caregivers say the increases in caregiving expenses have caused them to use up all or most of their savings ... Women who are family caregivers are 2½ times more likely than non-caregivers to live in poverty and five times more likely to receive Supplemental Social Security Income (SSCI).” Sheehy also writes that “40 percent to 70 percent of family caregivers have clinically significant symptoms of depression.” Read more.