Finances Force Kids as young as 8 to Care for their Parents at Home

Interesting article today in the WSJ (Jan. 5, FRONT PAGE) that describes an inevitable trend affecting kids as young as 8.

A 2005 study found as many as 1.3 million to 1.4 million children in the U.S. ages 8 through 18 provide care for a chronically ill or disabled family member, based on a two-part survey that included random sampling of 2,000 households and follow-up interviews with children and other family members. Policy makers and family advocates say they had been unaware that so many children were providing such care. Previous studies only polled caregivers 18 or older. “It is the norm to think of children requiring care, not providing it,” explained authors of the study.

The study, funded by the U.S. Administration on Aging and conducted by the National Alliance for Caregiving and the United Hospital Fund Foundation, found nearly 60% of child caregivers helped with a task such as bathing, dressing or feeding. A fourth of the children had no one helping them with the tasks, and about half said the caregiving took a significant amount of their time. Boys were almost as likely to provide care as girls. More than 400,000 were under 12. About 60% of the children came from households earning less than $50,000.

While motivated by love and devotion, these children often have little choice. Many live in single-parent homes, with only the infirm parent. In two-parent households, the healthy parent may be working. Few can afford paid home-care help, which generally costs from about $140 to $180 a day. Skilled nursing care costs much more.