Caregiving may be the sleeper issue in November's midterm elections among older Americans, according to a recent survey by AARP, a nonprofit and nonpartisan advocate for people aged 50 and older.
Most voters aged 50 and older in the battleground states of Alaska, Michigan, Arizona, Ohio, Texas and Georgia said they were more likely to back candidates who provide support for unpaid family caregivers, according to AARP, which surveyed more than 800 people in each state. Georgians led the charge, with 75% of respondents looking for candidates who support caregivers. Alaska had the lowest percentage among those states, but it was still high at 68%.
With so many pressing issues, including Social Security and healthcare costs, few candidates are focused
on caregiving, experts said. Unpaid family caregivers are an overlooked voting bloc, even as the issue is a growing concern, AARP said.
Candidates in battleground states that could determine which party gains control in Congress may want to pay attention, caregivers said.
“The care crisis is one of the defining issues of our generation. Across the country, millions of families who care for an aging parent or grandparent, or a loved one with disabilities, are being pushed to the brink by rising costs and an economy that makes care harder to afford, and caregiving harder to sustain," said Lystra Sawney, 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East vice president of new organizing, who's leading campaigns for healthcare and home care employees in New York.
Why is caregiving a growing issue?
America has entered 'Peak 65,' a historic surge of more than 4.1 million Americans turning 65 each year through 2027, said LIMRA, a nonprofit global trade association for the insurance and financial services industry. More than 11,200 turn 65 years old every day in the U.S., it said.
As Americans age and live longer but not necessarily healthier, most need help. A bulk of that caregiving often falls onto family and friends, who are usually unpaid and have their own children to tend to, making them the "sandwich generation," caregiving experts said. Unpaid labor provided by caregivers was valued at about $1 trillion in 2024, according to the AARP Public Policy Institute.
"This is somewhat newer because the population's changing," said Emily Rose, president of business solutions at subscription-based LegalShield that provides access to a network of law firms. "The sandwich generation is evolving quickly."
More and more people are getting caught between caring for two generations. The average age of the sandwich generation has dropped to 34 years old, younger than typical age of 40s or 50s that was the norm, according to a Care.com study.
"Every demographic in the workforce, even those in their 20s and just out of college, have caregiving as a concern," Rose said. "That's different from 5, 10, 20 years ago."
Are there any proposals to help caregivers?
There's no dearth of ideas. Just none have passed into law yet.
Many proposals, such as the Catching Up Family Caregivers Act of 2026 and Social Security Caregiver Credit Act of 2026, aim to help caregivers continue to save for retirement.
The Medicare at Home Act seeks to introduce a new Medicare Part B benefit that covers up to 20 hours per week of caregiving assistance for activities of daily living, while the Multigenerational Home Caregiver Credit Act offers a tax credit to those providing in-home care for an older family member.
Can companies help?
Companies can help by providing caregiving benefits, including resources and financial help, but again, caregiving isn't a focus even if the problem affects their business, a LegalShield survey showed.
More than 85% of 1,000 human resources executives said caregiving is leading to absenteeism and hammering productivity, 77% say it's hurting retention, and yet they still rank eldercare 10th out of 12 on their own list of top benefit priorities for the next two years, LegalShield said. Mental health support, financial wellness, childcare support and identity theft protection all rank above caregiving support, it said.
The good news, though, is that companies are slowly coming around. Just more than 8 of 10 HR executives said they're likely to add or expand senior care advisory benefits in the next 12 to 24 months, the survey said.
More companies offer voluntary benefits to fulfill this need, Rose said. In addition to core benefits like health insurance and a retirement plan, companies would offer a suite of benefits that could include a caregiving benefit employees could chose from, she said.
This allows employees to "tailor benefits based on where they are in life," she said. "Some may say they don't need ID theft because they bought it on their own, but they don’t have eldercare and a legal plan so they can sign up for those and wisely spend money on their priority."
What can Americans do to bolster this issue?
People aren't powerless, advocates said. Some actions they recommend include:
- AARP encourages seniors to vote and lobby Congress to advance their solutions. "In every national election since 2002—when citizen voting data by age became available—those 65 and older have cast ballots at higher rates than their younger counterparts," AARP noted.
- Employees can tell HR departments they want the company to prioritize caregiving benefits and why. "Making HR teams aware would move the dial considerably," Rose said.
- In New York, Sawney has led nearly 70,000 care workers to organize and push for a union. "The scale of this organizing drive hasn’t been seen since autoworkers organized at General Motors and Ford in the 30s and 40s, but caregivers today still have this same demands: decent wages and benefits that allow them to actually make a living doing work America desperately needs," she said.
Medora Lee is a money, markets and personal finance reporter at USA TODAY. You can reach her at mjlee@usatoday.com and subscribe to our free Daily Money newsletter for personal finance tips and business news every Monday through Friday morning.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Caregiving is overlooked issue voters want resolved, AARP survey finds
