No Kids? Who Will Care for You as You Age?

Adult children aren't the only ones who can oversee your medical and financial care in older age.

Preparing for our golden years in middle age is usually focused on fattening a 401(k), keeping up with the hottest ranked retirement cities and thinking about how we might adapt a home for aging in place. But are you giving much thought to who’ll take care of you when your health, mobility and independence decline?
 
If you have kids, you may feel some security knowing there’s a ready-made shortlist of people who might look after you – although it’s not a guarantee they’ll be able to help. But a growing number of people are heading into old age without any children to put on the list of potential caregivers.
 
In 2016, nearly 15 percent of women ages 40-44 hadn’t given birth and were childless, up from 10 percent in 1976, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. A 2013 report from AARP projects that by 2040, about 21 percent of the older, disabled population will be childless.

Lisa Mayfield isn’t surprised by the numbers. Mayfield is an aging life care manager, also known as a geriatric care manager, a type of elder care professional who offers guidance and coordination of care for older adults. “I would say a third of our clients fit this category of not having children,” says Mayfield, president-elect of the Aging Life Care Association.

[Read: How to Be a Great Caregiver.]
 
Are Kids the Only Caregivers?
Not having children doesn’t mean you won’t have any loved ones to take care of you. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that an average of about 41 million unpaid people cared for an aging family member or friend during 2015 and 2016. Among those caregivers, 41.6 percent cared for a parent, about a quarter cared for another related person like a sibling or an aunt,16.7 percent cared for a grandparent, just over 16 percent cared for a friend or neighbor and less than 8 percent cared for a spouse or partner.
 
Elder Orphans
What worries Dr. Carla Perissinotto is not whether a particular family member or friend takes care of you later in life, but simply whether there’s anyone to do the job. “It haunts me,” says Perissinotto, associate chief for geriatric clinical programs at the University of California—San Francisco. “We see more and more older adults who are all alone.”
 
Dubbed elder orphans, these seniors are living alone with little or no support. They are childless, spouseless and fending for themselves when they are most vulnerable. It’s unclear how many older adults are elder orphans, but a 2016 study suggested 22 percent of older adults were at risk for the status.
 
To learn more read the full article please - Click Here
 
BrightStar Care of Nassau County provides a full continuum of home care services comprised of companionship, personal care, dementia care, transportation, medication assistance, skilled nursing and more to improve clients’ health and quality of life.  
 
To learn more about our local team of caregivers, skilled healthcare professionals, and home health care support for Long Island families and businesses - CLICK HERE