Tag Archives for caregivers

It’s now time for Congress to give tax credits to America’s caregivers

Published in RINewsToday on February 24, 2025

Just a few days after the 119th Congress was sworn in on Friday, January 3rd, AARP, along with 94 organizations, sent a letter to Congress urging lawmakers to enact legislation to provide financial relief for America’s caregivers. This could be accomplished by including the bipartisan bicameral Credit for Caring Act of 2024 (S. 3702/H.R. 7165 introduced in the 118th Congress) in any tax legislation that is advanced during the new Congress, says the joint letter.    

S. 3702/H.R. 7165, introduced during the last session of Congress by Sen. Michael Bennett (D-Colorado) and House lawmakers Mike Carey (D-Ohio), would allow an eligible caregiver a tax credit of up to $5,000 for 30% of the cost of long-term care expenses that exceed $2,000 in a taxable year. The bills defined eligible caregiver as an individual who has earned income for the taxable year in excess of $7,500 and pays or incurs expenses for providing care to a spouse or other dependent relative with long-term care needs. 

The joint letter, dated Jan. 7, 2025, stressed that family caregivers make it possible for older adults, people with disabilities, and veterans, to live independently in their community and age in place at home.  It also cited an AARP study that found caregivers provided $600 billion annually in unpaid labor in 2021 to care for their loved ones. (This figure is based on about 38 million caregivers providing an average of 18 hours of care per week for a total of 36 billion hours of care, at an average value of $16.59 per hour). 

Caregivers take a hefty financial hit, too, having to cover out-of-pocket expenses associated with caregiving and losing income by cutting back on work hours or leaving the workforce entirely. When this occurs these individuals would see reduced Social Security and retirement savings by receiving reduced Social Security and other retirement benefits, noted the organizations in the correspondence. 

The joint letter also mentioned an AARP study that reported family caregivers spend on average, 26 percent of their income on caregiving expenses or over $7,200 annually. The uncompensated care saves taxes payers billions of dollars by delaying or even preventing admission to costly nursing home care and unnecessary hospital stays.  

The joint letter suggested that any tax legislation consider include a new, non-refundable tax credit of up to $ 5,000 for eligible working family caregivers would reduce the significant financial impact of caregiving.  Eligible caregivers caring for loved ones of all ages could receive the credit if the care recipient meets certain functional or cognitive limitations or other requires.  This tax credit would help working family caregivers regardless of whether they live with their loved one or if their loved one is a dependent. 

Overwhelmingly support for tax relief for caregivers 

A newly released AARP poll findings indicate that voters in competitive congressional districts want Congress to give financial relief to America’s family caregivers. The poll, conducted in late Jan. 2025, highlights a “clear, bipartisan mandate” say prominent pollsters from Fabrizio Ward and Impact Research. 

The bipartisan polling team conducted this survey of 3,000 registered voters nationally and 1,000 voters in the 28 most competitive House districts between January 27 and February 1, 2025. According to AARP, the districts chosen were the 15 Republican-held districts won by <5% of the vote in 2024, and the 13 Democratic-held districts that were also won by President Trump in 2024. The margin of sampling error for the national survey is ±1.8% and ±3.1% for the congressional districts survey.

The AARP poll findings reveal overwhelming voter support (84%) for Congress and the Trump Administration to act this Congress on a caregiver tax credit. Among various tax proposals currently being considered by Congress — including eliminating income taxes on Social Security, tips, and overtime pay—voters ranked passing a caregiver tax credit as their top priority. 

“America’s family caregivers put family first, helping their parents, spouses and others stay at home. They spend thousands of dollars every year on this care, while juggling work and family responsibilities,” said Nancy LeaMond, AARP Executive Vice President and Chief Advocacy & Engagement Officer in a statement released on Feb. 11, 2025 announcing the results of AARP’s poll. “Without them, millions of older Americans would be forced into costly nursing homes—many at taxpayer expense. As Congress debates tax policy, the message from voters is clear: lawmakers must prioritize financial relief for hardworking Americans who are caring for their aging family members. AARP urges Congress to put money back into the pockets of hardworking family caregivers by passing a tax credit,” she says.  

Bipartisan

The poll findings indicate that support for the caregiving tax credit spans party lines, with strong majorities of Republicans (84%), Independents (82%), and Democrats (87%) in favor.  And support for a caregiver tax credit (84%) outpaces support for continuing the 2017 tax cuts (51%).  

Seventy-six-percent of voters agree that “Before Congress extends any tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations, it should support working Americans with a tax credit to help cover the expenses of taking care of a loved one.”  

Family caregiving crosses party lines, with nearly two-thirds of voters (63%) serving as family caregivers at some point in their lives—many of whom struggle financially. 

Most voters (63%) say they are worried about their personal financial situation.  Family caregivers nationwide, many of whom face financial struggles, spend an average of $7,200 in out-of-pocket expenses each year—making it harder to afford essentials like groceries and bills.

“Voters over the age of 50 are a critical voting bloc that all candidates should compete for every election cycle,” adds Tony Fabrizio, partner at Fabrizio Ward. “Our poll found that Americans of all political stripes want leaders to support family caregivers. Candidates looking ahead to the 2026 midterms should pay attention to this issue if they want to win,” he said.

Could tax credits for caregivers become a reality?

Maybe.  During the 118th Congress, Republican and Democratic lawmakers came together to cosponsor legislation that called for federal tax credits for caregivers. S. 3702, with 11 Democrats, 3 Republicans and 3 Independents, was referred to the Senate Finance Committee.  Its companion measure in the lower chamber, H. R. 7165, with 81 cosponsors (72 Democrats and 9 Republicans), was referred to House Ways and Means Committee.  Both bipartisan bills never made it to mark up or even to the House floor for vote. 

Tax Notes reporter Alexander Rifaat, who covers the White House and Treasury, reported in a web article posted on Oct. 29, 2024 that Presidential Republican candidate Donald Trump supported tax relief for caregivers. Rifaat noted that during his 2024 presidential election, at a campaign event held at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Oct. 27, Trump called for a national tax credit for caregivers who are “never spoken of” and stay at home. 

At the campaign event,  Rifaat noted that Trump told the crowd:  “I will support a tax credit for family caregivers who take care of a parent or a loved one. And it’s about time they were recognized, right?” 

Now, as President Trump has an opportunity to keep this campaign promise by calling on the Republican-controlled Congress to work with Democratic lawmakers to give America’s caregivers financial relief, through the passage of a national tax credit legislation that will benefit them.  It’s time to work together and put caregivers before partisan politics.

For a copy of the National Legislative Priorities Survey, Feb. 2025, go to www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/research/topics/voter-opinion-research/politics/federal-tax-package-legislative-priorities.doi.10.26419-2fres.00921.001.pdf.

For a listing of organizations urging Congress in Jan. 7, 2025 correspondence to provide financial tax relief to caregivers, go to www.nase.org/sf-docs/default-source/advocacy-documents/financial-relief-for-family-caregivers-credit-for-caring-act-sign-on-letter-january-2025-(1).pdf?sfvrsn=e6b0e0f0_1

www.bls.gov/blog/2023/celebrating-national-family-caregivers-month-with-bls-data.html

To read AARP’s Research Insights into Caregiving, go to www.aarp.org/pri/topics/ltss/family-caregiving/aarp-research-insights-caregiving/.

Senior Fellows Give Time to Non-Profits 

Published in RINewsToday on January 20, 2025

 By Herb Weiss

When a state law was enacted in 2024 allowing families to install monitoring cameras in the nursing home rooms of their loved ones,  Ginny Lee, one of Leadership Rhode Island’s first Senior Fellows, was among those celebrating.

Lee had spent a lot of time button-holing legislators and testifying before House and Senate committees in support of the bill, which is intended to protect nursing home and assisted living residents from physical, verbal and sexual abuse.  

By advocating for passage of the “Grammy cam” surveillance law, Lee was fulfilling the civic commitment she made in 2023 as a member of the inaugural Senior Fellows program, a joint effort of LRI and Age-Friendly RI. 

Empowering older adults to take “an active role in shaping the state’s future” is exactly what James Connell,  Age-Friendly’s executive director, had in mind when he approached LRI’s then-new Executive Director, Michelle Carr,to create the Senior Fellows program.

Though Lee was among the Senior Fellows who successfully fulfilled their commitments to improve the lives of older Rhode Islanders, some Fellows in the first cohort struggled to find a way to make good on their respective pledges.    

Feedback from the pilot program indicated that more structure would help participants carry out their civic commitments, says Lyanh Ramirez, LRI’s development manager.

That’s why the 2024 Senior Fellows program offered participants the option of  volunteering with a community organizationalready engaged in age-friendly issues and activities.          

The goal was to connect participants “to the causes and efforts they were passionate about,” Ramirez says. “There are so many wonderful initiatives already happening that we didn’t want to duplicate efforts.”                 

Participants, ranging in age from 62 to 86, attended eight sessions in May and June during which they discussed the needs and challenges of the state’s older population and many other topics.

 Of the 28 participants, five are LRI alumni:  Ray Pouliot, Barry Couto, Jodi Glass, Patricia Raskin, and Patty Cotoia.        

Intergenerational communication was the focus of one session in which LRI alumni from different generations joined a discussion on ageism.  Other sessions dealt with the value of knowing one’s strengths, and legislative activity related to healthy aging.

Participants also heard directly from each of the nine partner organizations that had agreed to work with one or more of the newly minted Senior Fellows until the end of the year.

Partner organizations included the Rhode Island affiliates of Age Friendly, the AARP,  Meals on Wheels, PACE, the Senior Agenda Coalition,  the Village Common and the United Way, along with the state Department of Health and the Coventry Human Services/Resource & Senior Center.

  Here’s a sampling of what some of the Senior Fellows accomplished:  

Five Senior Fellows are contributing in different ways to the state Health Department’s efforts to make quality-of -life-improvements for those with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders (ADRD).

 “They’ve all been very active,” says Victoria O’Connor, chair of the statewide ADRD Advisory Council that developed a five-year plan of  strategies and activities to support those with dementia and their caretakers.

 Joe McCarthy came up with the idea of finding out what other states are doing to address ADRD issues and to compare their plans with Rhode Island’s current five-year plan.  

Two others, Brian Grossguth and Roland Moussally, did some “boots-on-the-ground” research. Grossguth visited two senior centers to get a sense for what resources are needed to better serve those with dementia; Moussally met with members of a group in Pawtucket to learn how they are incorporating the needs of residents with dementia in Pawtucket’s Age-Friendly action plan.

 Meanwhile, Kathy Trier and Gary Avigne have contributed research to guide a new mini-grant program to support community initiatives for those with dementia.

 They researched other grant applications for similar amounts of funding – less than $5,000 – to inform the development of the ADRD application. Trier and Avigne also assisted in the creation of a scoring matrix to compare the responses of applicants.  

The five Senior Fellows presented their findings at the November meeting of the ADRD Advisory Council, the group that oversees progress in implementing the strategies in the 2024-2029 State plan.                  

Five other Senior Fellows volunteered at the AARP.  Four  focused on efforts to make communities age-friendly.              

 “It’s important for everyone to have a safe place to walk, ride a bike, or even push a baby carriage,” explains Ray Pouliot, 77, retired East Greenwich school teacher.       

The first hurdle for joining the AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities is getting a commitment from local officials. 

 At the start of his work with AARP,  Pouliot noted that being a resident of East Providence “and personally knowing the mayor might help get this initiative up and running.”

He was right. In October,  Pouliot, Deborah Perry, also from East Providence, and a small AARP delegation, met with Mayor Roberto L. DaSilva to explain what it takes to become an Age-Friendly city.

 The mayor agreed on-the-spot to support the effort. Pouliot and Perry get “full credit” for the success, says Matt Netto, AARP’s associate state director for outreach and advocacy.

 Mary Ann Shallcross Smith, a state representative and President of Dr. Day Care Learning Centers, chose to concentrate on sidewalk improvement efforts because “all the phone calls I get from many people in my hometown of Lincoln” are about sidewalks.

Shallcross Smith says working on the AARP initiative complements her legislative interests to ensure sidewalk safety. She introduced a bill in the 2024 legislative session  to maintain sidewalks and curbs along the state’s highways. The bill didn’t make it, but she intends to re-introduce a revised version in 2025.

“If there are no holes or cracks in sidewalks it will enable people who want to take a walk,” says Shallcross Smith.  “It’s free exercise!”

She and Netto of the AARP also plan to approach Town Administrator Philip G. Gould soon to urge that Lincoln consider joining the AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities.

Senior Fellow Perry, 62, president and CEO of the YWCA, says she opted for the Livable Communities program “because it resonates with me.”  She once worked as a municipal planner.Perry, who expects to retire in August, 2025, says she will conduct  a sidewalk audit in a Providence neighborhood to fulfill her Senior Fellow pledge. After retiring, she hopes to have time to get involved in East Providence’s Age-Friendly program.

In October, Senior Fellow Janis Solomon, who retired in 2008 after 43 years as a professor of German Studies at Connecticut College, joined a sizable group of Rhode Islanders learning how to conduct a sidewalk audit. She will audit streets in a neighborhood in Providence.      

A fifth Senior Fellow, Vince Burks, 64, former communications director at Amica Insurance Company, chose to volunteer for the AARP’s public speaker’s bureau. ”I have experience with public speaking and public affairs, so I felt this would be a good fit,” he says.

The Senior Fellows program is offered tuition-free. Carolyn Belisle, vice president of Corporate Social Responsibility at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Rhode Island, says she was thrilled to join Age Friendly as a sponsor of the innovative program.

New report re-examines workplace policies and caregiving

Published in RINewsToday on June 10, 2024

As a newly released AARP and S&P Global report notes, working while being a caregiver is complicated.  While the researchers say that since the previously issued report in 2020, US employers have stepped up to the plate to offer access to caregiving benefits.  However, much more must be done. 

Since the 2020 AARP and S&P Global’s last report, employers have become attuned to the needs of working parents over the past decade and especially during the pandemic, and are now moving from awareness to action in providing support for employees with adult caregiving responsibilities.

Taking a look at caregiver employees

The report’s authors say this study “explores the workplace experiences of caregivers and how they use employer provided benefits and policies to remain successful at work while providing care at home. It reveals not only the challenges of balancing work and caregiving, but also how the right workplace policies can ease the burdens.”

According to the new analysis conducted last December by AARP and S&P Global, the unpredictable nature of caregiving for an adult is one of the biggest stressors the caregiver employee faces.  Sixty seven percent of family caregivers have a very difficult time balancing work with their caregiver responsibilities.  

Half of the working caregiver respondents reported having to make work scheduling changes, (including going in early, leaving late, or just taking time off because of caregiving responsibilities), the findings indicated.

The findings indicate that workers are even reducing hours at work.  Twenty seven percent of working caregivers have shifted from full-time to part-time work or have even reduced hours, while 16% have turned down a promotion.

Meanwhile the findings indicated that 16% have stopped working entirely for a period of time — and 13% have changed employers — in order to meet their caregiving responsibilities.

With the nation’s number of adults ages 65-plus projected to surpass the population of children by 2030, the report warns that US employers must continue to offer policies and benefits that are friendly and supportive of adult caregivers to keep them in the workforce.

In order to get a handle on the needs of working caregivers and understand the importance of employer benefits for balancing work and family care obligations, in 2023 AARP and S&P Global surveyed 1,200 self-identified caregivers who worked full-time or part-time at large US companies (employing more than 1,000 employees) and who provide at least six hours of care each week to an adult.

It’s complicated – being a working caregiver 

There were other key highlights from the Working while caregiving: It’s complicated report.  

Eighty percent of the survey caregiver respondents believe that companies were more understanding of childcare issues – rather than adult caregiving responsibilities.  The researchers say that this is particularly the case among caregivers who have an under-18 child at home and they have recent experience of both caregiving situations. Those caregivers without children reported less satisfaction with company support than caregivers with children (69% versus 89%, respectively).

For those working remotely, the survey’s findings indicate that they were more likely to feel penalized or discriminated against at work because of caregiving responsibilities when compared to in-office or hybrid workers (49% versus a combined average of 29%). The researchers say that this might reflect employer challenges in assessing and engaging with remote employees’ work-life needs.

Finally, the study found that among working caregivers providing more than 21 hours of care a week, 37% say they are experiencing significantly increased difficulty due to inflation. And for those providing fewer than 10 hours of care, 25% say inflation has made providing care significantly more difficult.

According to AARP, previous AARP research shows that of the nearly 48 million family caregivers in the US, 61% are juggling both work and caregiving responsibilities, including assistance with daily living activities, medical or nursing tasks, coordinating services and supports, transportation, shopping, and serving as an advocate for their care recipient. Most family caregivers provide at least 20 hours of care each week, equal to an unpaid part-time job.

The new report’s findings found that access to a flexible work schedule at the time of caregiving increased from 32% in 2020 to 45% in 2023. Additionally, the availability of caregiving policies or benefits increased in every category except unpaid leave. 

“As the backbone of America’s long-term care system, providing $600 billion every year in unpaid labor, family caregivers need and deserve greater support from their own employers,” said Susan Reinhard, Senior Vice President and Director of AARP Public Policy Institute, in a May 16th statement announcing the release of the 21 page report’s findings.  “As our population ages, it’s critical that employers support family caregivers in the workforce with the policies, such as paid leave, that can ease their everyday burdens,” she said.

“Despite the progress observed since 2020, the latest data shows the majority of employees with adult caregiving responsibilities continue to face barriers at balancing work and caregiving obligations and need greater support from employers through enhanced benefits and policies to stay engaged in the workforce,” noted Alexandra Dimitrijevic, Co-chair of S&P Global Research Council. “Employers can help by paying forward-looking attention to employee needs and the demographics shift of the workforce in the coming years,” she added.

Best Practices to support working caregivers

The report’s authors say that employers can do more to support working caregivers and detail best practices that companies can take to support their employees. 

They call on companies to consider offering and support flexible schedules and flexible work locations either hybrid/remote. Employer-supported access to support groups, career coaching and financial advising resources could be offered.  Paid leave specifically for caregivers and/or flexible leave can be used to help with caregiving duties, they suggest.

Yes, information is power.  Companies could host free sessions to highlight how caregiving employees can optimize employer benefits and policies, as a way to address the lack of awareness in using benefits.  Senior leaders could be asked to share their stories as to how they have used the company’s caregiver-supportive benefits and policies, signaling to both people managers and their teams that they are encouraged to use them.

The report’s authors urge companies to train people managers on caregiver-inclusive managerial practices and ensure that they are aware of caregiver-supportive benefits and policies. They must make it clear that it is safe to use them all without incurring career risk.

Finally, companies can start or support an Employee Resource Group (ERG) for parents and caregivers or create a caregiving initiative across all ERGs. 

To view the full 2024 report:

https://www.spglobal.com/en/research-insights/featured/special-editorial/working-while-caregiving.

To view the 2020 report:

Click to access somethingsgottagive_spgiaarp.pdf

For details on caregiving: 

Click to access full-report-caregiving-in-the-united-states.doi.10.26419-2Fppi.00103.001.pdf