Before you read this article from the Washington Post, remember, what I've been trying to tell you. In addition to the problem as they see it, we have a bunch of young Congressmen who think it's time to cut benefits to our senior citizens and some have even joked about euthanasia, equating it with killing dogs at the pound. This isn't pretty.
Americans should expect an enormous shortage in caregivers for older people in the coming decades, with a dearth of friends and family members available to care for the baby-boom generation as it ages, according to a report released Monday by AARP.
The report, “The Aging of the Baby Boom and the Growing Care Gap,” projects that by 2030 there will be only four potential caregivers available for each person 80 or older, down from a high of more than seven in 2010.
“It’s a wake-up call for aging boomers,” said Lynn Feinberg, a senior strategic policy adviser at the AARP Public Policy Institute and an author of the report. “We’re really moving toward an uncertain future as . . . relying on our family and friends to provide long-term care isn’t going to be realistic anymore.”
“Our country is sort of a muddling-through country, and we tend to respond more to crisis situations than long-term planning,” she said. “We’re right now in the kind of halcyon days of caregiving because we have a lot of caregivers. . . . How do you get policymakers to respond to something that’s not till 15 to 20 years from now?”
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