Press Release
Information from MetLife’s Mature Market Institute
Metropolitan Life Insurance Company
57 Greens Farms Road
Westport, CT 06880FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Debra Caruso
Matz, Blancato & Associates
(212) 227-7793
Michelle Marin
MetLife Public Relations
(212) 578-6208AMERICANS PAY A STAGGERING PRICE IN LOST WAGES AND OTHER COSTS TO CARE FOR ELDERLY RELATIVES AND FRIENDS ACCORDING TO METLIFE STUDY (New York, NY – Wednesday, December 1, 1999) - Americans who provide care for elderly relatives and friends are paying a huge price, according to the "1999 MetLife Juggling Act Study," produced for the MetLife Mature Market Institute in conjunction with the National Alliance for Caregiving and the National Center for Women and Aging at Brandeis University. This in-depth analysis studying caregivers, many of whom resigned from their jobs or took extended leaves because of caregiving, is a follow-up to a national survey conducted in 1997 that found that 25 percent of all U.S. households provide care for an elderly person.
According to the study, caregiving costs individuals upwards of $659,000 over their lifetimes in lost wages, lost social security and pension contributions because they take time off, leave their jobs entirely or experience compromised opportunities for training, promotions and "plum" assignments.
"It is a staggering figure for the 22.4 million U.S. families who provide care," said Sandra Timmermann, Ed.D., a gerontologist and director of MetLife’s Mature Market Institute. "Of the caregivers we studied, 84 percent made adjustments to their work schedules by doing at least one of the following: taking sick leave or vacation time, decreasing work hours, taking a leave of absence, switching from full to part time employment, resigning or retiring. Very few of their employers provided programs or resources to support their caregiving efforts. Only recently have policy-makers and business leaders begun to recognize the sacrifices and contributions made by working caregivers."
CAREER TRACKS: STANDING STILL AT BEST The analysis found that over their lifetimes, the caregivers studied lost $566,500 in wages, $67,000 in retirement contributions and $25,500 in social security benefits. Twenty-nine percent said they had passed on promotions, training opportunities and new assignments; 25 percent passed on transfers or relocation; 22 percent said they could not acquire new job skills. In addition, caregiving cost the respondents an average of $19,500 in food, transportation, assistance with rents and mortgages and the cost to retain home care professionals. Many of the caregivers were also forced to reduce their discretionary spending.
A LOSS TO BUSINESSES The current MetLife study was conducted as a follow-up to the 1997 MetLife Study of Employer Costs for Working Caregivers, which reported that lost productivity due to caregiving cost U.S. businesses $11-29 billion annually. "That analysis showed an enormous impact on businesses," said Joyce Ruddock, vice president and head of MetLife’s Long-Term Care Group. "The current study displays the adverse effects caregiving has on their employees, the individuals and families who provide the care."
According to MetLife, policy changes could include more programs to support caregivers, such as employer-sponsored flexible benefit plans, a more favorable tax environment for caregivers and their employers, an increase in the availability of community-based resources and long term care insurance.
A WARNING FOR AGING BABY BOOMERS "As the population ages, the number of caregivers will grow and the costs will escalate," said Gail Hunt, executive director of the National Alliance for Caregiving. "We should be planning now for the challenge that will result in just 11 years when the 78 million baby boomers in this country begin to turn 65."
"This study breaks new ground in detailing the true costs to caregivers in providing assistance," said Phyllis Mutschler, Ph.d., Executive Director of the National Center on Women and Aging which conducted the analysis. "In honoring their obligations to elderly relatives, caregivers may imperil their own long term financial health."
Interviewed for the study were caregiving Americans from diverse backgrounds and varying income levels. All were over 45 years of age and three-quarters were female. Ninety-five percent reported being employed when they began caregiving. Sixty percent were married. More than half provided care for their mothers, most of whom were over age 70. Respondents were recruited from the 1997 study on family caregiving conducted by the National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP.
The Mature Market Institute is MetLife’s comprehensive resource center for issues concerning the mature market. The Institute, staffed by gerontologists, provides training and education, consultation and information to support MetLife, its corporate customers and business partners.
Headquartered in New York City since 1868, the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company is a leading provider of insurance and financial products and services to a broad spectrum of individual and group customers. The company, with approximately $360.7 billion of assets under management as of year-end 1998, provides individual insurance and investment products to approximately 9 million households in the U.S. MetLife also serves over 33 million people by providing group insurance and investment products to corporations and other institutions. For more information about MetLife, please visit the company’s Web site at www.metlife.com.
For a free copy of the study--Please write:
The MetLife Mature Market Institute
57 Greens Farms Road
Westport, CT 06880Or call: 203-221-6580
Or e-mail: MMI_MetLife@metlife.com
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