Growing up giving care: economic and educational outcomes for youth and young-adult caregivers.

INTRODUCTION: Family and friends play a crucial role in supporting people with disabilities by providing unpaid help with activities ranging from personal care to housekeeping to wound care.

METHODS: We examined associations between earliest age of first unpaid caregiving episode and educational and economic outcomes by age 60 years using nationally representative survey data from the Health and Retirement Study.

RESULTS: We found that youth/young-adult caregivers (became a caregiver on or before age 25) have 47% more caregiving episodes and 244% more caregiving years compared with those who become caregivers after age 25+ years. Compared with people who never become caregivers and caregivers aged 26+ years, youth/young-adult caregivers have lower levels of postsecondary education and by age 60 have lower predicted Social Security value (-12% vs caregivers aged 26+ years and -23% compared to non-caregivers).

CONCLUSION: Growing up giving care is a reality for many youth and young adults in the United States today. Investing in youth caregiving research is critical to help develop targeted policies and interventions to meet their unique needs.