A new report highlighted the value of the unpaid labor of Oregon’s family caregivers, based on local wages and care costs.
The report from AARP, called “Valuing the Invaluable,” estimated family caregivers in Oregon provide unpaid care worth more than $15 billion each year.
Michael Schultz, state volunteer president of AARP Oregon, said about 740,000 Oregonians care for an aging loved one, assisting with everything from rides to appointments to complex medical tasks like injections.
“People should really recognize that if we didn’t have people stepping up to be family caregivers, the long-term care system in the state would just implode,” Schultz stressed. “There’s no way that there’s enough resources, private or federal, to fill that gap.”
Schultz pointed out nationally, family caregivers provide $1 trillion of unpaid care per year, which is more than federal, state and local Medicaid spending combined. AARP added without caregivers, many more Oregonians would need to pay for in-home care or institutional care, which would increase expenses for families, taxpayers and public programs.
Schultz praised Oregon for having many informational resources available for caregivers. He highlighted Oregon’s Project Independence, which is based on Medicaid eligibility.
“But there’s a lot of people that just fall into that in-between zone, where they don’t qualify for that based on income,” Schultz acknowledged. “But yet, the need is still there.”
Schultz added many caregivers are forced to work fewer hours or leave their jobs entirely to take care of their loved ones and thinks the state could do more to support them. He noted caregivers need adult day services, more training, paid leave and workplace flexibility.
On a federal level, Schultz supports the Credit for Caregiving Act. The legislation would allow eligible unpaid family caregivers to recoup up to $5,000 in tax credits for care-related expenses.
