As the US ages, a growing movement aims to care for caregivers

As the US ages, a growing movement aims to care for caregivers
JAMA Network; by Virginia Hunt; 6/20/25
People caring for a family member with special needs such as a disabled child, a convalescing partner, or an aging parent often feel alone—but they aren’t. In fact, up until the COVID-19 pandemic, unpaid family caregivers made up nearly 1 in 5 US adults, or about 53 million people. Experts estimate that this number has since grown. It certainly has for people supporting older adults: between 2011 and 2022, this subset of caregivers increased from 18.2 million to 24.1 million, according to a recent study.