Caregiver Statistics 2026: Who Gives Care, Hours, Costs
63 million Americans, nearly one in four adults, are family caregivers, up 20 million since 2015. Nearly a quarter of them give 40 or more hours of care a week, almost a third are also raising children, and 70% of those of working age hold a job. Most are unpaid, and nearly half have taken a financial hit. Here are the caregiver statistics worth knowing in 2026, each sourced inline with the year noted.
63 million Americans are family caregivers
63 million Americans, nearly one in four adults, provided ongoing care for an adult or a child with a complex medical condition or disability in the past year (AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving, Caregiving in the US 2025, 2025).
That’s up 45%, or about 20 million people, since 2015 (AARP and NAC, 2025).
59 million care for an adult, and 4 million for a child under 18 with an illness or disability (AARP, 2025).
Three in five caregivers are women, the average caregiver is 51, and one in five lives in a rural area (AARP, 2025).
Nearly a quarter give 40+ hours a week
Nearly one in four caregivers provide 40 or more hours of care a week, a full-time job on top of everything else (AARP and NAC, 2025).
44% of caregivers provide high-intensity care, and 30% have been caregiving for five years or more (AARP, 2025).
Over half of caregivers manage complex medical and nursing tasks such as injections, wound care or medications, but just over 20% have had formal training for them (AARP and NAC, 2025).
29% are in the sandwich generation
29% of caregivers are also raising children under 18 while caring for an adult (AARP, 2025).
Among caregivers under 50, that share rises to 47%, and it is especially common among Latino (43%) and Black (36%) caregivers (AARP and NAC, 2025).
Most are unpaid, and many are going into debt
Nearly half of caregivers have had at least one major financial impact, such as taking on debt, stopping saving or being unable to afford food (AARP and NAC, 2025).
A little over a third have stopped saving, 24% have used up their short-term savings, and 13% have tapped long-term savings like retirement accounts (AARP, 2025).
23% are in debt because of their caregiving (AARP, 2025).
11.2 million family caregivers now receive some compensation, but most remain unpaid: of the 59 million caring for adults, 47.8 million are unpaid and only 1.9 million are solely paid caregivers (AARP, 2025).
Caregivers’ own health is slipping
One in five caregivers report fair or poor health, and nearly one in four say they struggle to look after their own health because of caregiving (AARP and NAC, 2025).
Nearly one in four caregivers feel socially isolated, a share that is growing (AARP and NAC, 2025).
For the work side of the strain, see burnout statistics.
70% of working-age caregivers have a job
70% of working-age caregivers are in the workforce (AARP, 2025).
Salaried caregivers have far better access to workplace caregiving benefits, such as flexible hours, than hourly workers (AARP and NAC, 2025).
Caregivers overwhelmingly support tax credits (69%), programs that pay family caregivers (68%) and paid leave (55%) (AARP and NAC, 2025).
The logistics that eat the evening
Much of caregiving is logistics: doctor’s appointments, pharmacy refills, insurance calls, updating siblings, rearranging work around all of it. Carly is an AI assistant that works in your email and calendar. She books and moves appointments, keeps one calendar for the whole family, follows up on the emails you don’t have time for, and texts you reminders, and she connects to thousands of apps.
For more, see the best AI assistant for caregivers and the best AI apps for life admin.
FAQ
How many family caregivers are there in the US? 63 million, nearly one in four adults, as of 2025 (AARP and NAC, 2025).
How many hours a week do caregivers provide? Nearly one in four caregivers provide 40 or more hours of care a week (AARP and NAC, 2025).
What percentage of caregivers are in the sandwich generation? 29% care for both children and an adult, rising to 47% among caregivers under 50 (AARP, 2025).
Are family caregivers paid? Mostly not. 11.2 million receive some compensation, but 47.8 million of those caring for adults are unpaid (AARP, 2025).
Related: Work-Life Balance Statistics · Burnout Statistics · Remote Work Statistics · Employee Engagement Statistics · Four-Day Work Week Statistics
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