Caregiving is a lot more than just caring about someone. Caregiving is actively providing care emotionally, physically and spiritually, and for some caregivers, it can also mean financially supporting a vulnerable person. Vulnerable people include all children, adults with a health issue preventing the ability to work and seniors who can no longer care for themselves completely.
 
It’s safe to say all parents, whether biological, adoptive or foster, are caregivers to children. When an adult child must also help care for aging parents, this puts a lot of stress and additional unpaid work on their plates. 
 
According to U.S. News, Americans who’ve become caregivers rose by a third from 2012 to 2022. That means there are 24.1 million people in our country serving as caregivers with the number increasing each day.

The amount of time spent caring for senior adults with dementia increased by 50% to 31 hours per week in 2022. Caring for a parent with dementia is its own demanding job and can impact some caregivers to leave their paid work to do caregiving full time. The detriment to the adult caregiver’s personal financial future can be negatively impacted by the caregiving demands. Even if a caregiver has additional help through senior living facilities or skilled nursing, there's still a great deal of business and financial care to be provided by the adult child. 
 
When a school-aged child has special needs or a particular disability that requires extra attention, or an aging parent who just needs more hands-on help with going to doctors’ appointments, taking medication or simple tasks like grocery shopping, these extra hours of time needed greatly impact working adults and their ability to care for themselves.
 
National Caregivers Day is intended to shine a light on the individuals providing selfless and often unpaid care to the vulnerable populations in our society. While all minor children should be under the care of a loving and safe parent, the reality is that some children have deeper needs that require therapy, extra accommodations at school or different parenting techniques to help the child grow up strong and successful.

For working parents, this is why flexible jobs are a must in today’s busy world. Same goes for seniors who are vulnerable to financial scams and navigating an increasing technological world that doesn’t always guarantee connection to a live person to answer questions.
 
Caregivers are vital to our country and world. So many people depend on those they trust and love to help them through seasons of life where they can’t care for themselves, which is why we as a country have a responsibility to focus on resources and support for caregivers. Without the ability to care for themselves, what will happen to those who need care when the caregivers are unable to help? It is to everyone’s advantage to care for the caregivers.
 
If you are a church, offering a support group who prays for caregivers and helps lighten their loads will go a long way mentally and physically to avoid burnout. Caregiving traditionally falls to women, mothers and adult daughters, so having general awareness that women, especially working women, are under a great deal of stress for time. She likely has no time for self-care and may avoid asking for help. Do you know a superwoman like this? Check on her. She will greatly appreciate you doing so. 
 
Globally, women make up 81% of all caregivers. Women who leave their paid employment to care for an aging parent can lose up to $324,000 in income and benefits. The stress and emotional toll of caregiving can result in depression and shorter mortality rates for women who are unable to care for themselves as caregivers. People live longer lives today than ever before but with more than 61 million Americans living with disabilities, this puts an even greater strain on caregivers to navigate health care, therapies and insurance challenges over greater lengths of time. 
 
Oftentimes people are so concerned about the vulnerable people being cared for they overlook the strain on the caregivers who are burning the candle at both ends. Just as our society may understand training the trainer, we must care for the caregiver.
 
At some point in everyone’s lives, we have been the ones cared for by another person and will likely become the caregiver to one or more people we love. Say a prayer today for those who have given you care and ask how you can bless someone who is serving as a caregiver.