Caregiving reaches a large share of the U.S. population, but the measured scale depends on the definition. The 2025 family-caregiver survey estimated 63.0 million U.S. adults provided ongoing care to an adult or child with a medical condition or disability, while the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) counted 38.192 million people age 15 and over providing unpaid eldercare in its 2023–2024 time-use measure.
Key Caregiver Statistics
The following highlights cover the most broadly useful caregiver measures in the United States:
- In the 2025 survey, 63.0 million U.S. adults provided ongoing family care to an adult or child with a medical condition or disability during the prior 12 months.
- The 2025 family-caregiver estimate represented almost one-quarter of U.S. adults.
- The number of family caregivers was 45% higher in 2025 than in the comparable 2015 study.
- About 59 million U.S. family caregivers cared for an adult in the 2025 survey.
- About 4 million U.S. family caregivers cared for a child under 18 with an illness or disability in the 2025 survey.
- Ninety-four percent of family caregivers cared for adults in the 2025 survey.
- 38.192 million people age 15 and over provided unpaid eldercare in the 2023–2024 BLS average.
- Women had a 15.1% eldercare-provider rate, compared with 12.9% for men, in the 2023–2024 BLS average.
- Eldercare-provider rates reached 24.1% for people ages 55–64 in the 2023–2024 BLS average.
- On an average care day, 28% of eldercare providers provided care, spending 3.9 hours on days when they did so, in 2023–2024.
- Eldercare providers age 65 and older spent 4.93 hours on care days in the 2023–2024 BLS average.
- 44.3% of family caregivers were classified as high intensity by the 2025 Caregiving in the US Level of Care Index.
- Only 22% of family caregivers reported receiving training in the 2025 survey.
- Caregivers of adults age 50 and older provided an average of 26 hours of care per week in the 2025 AARP/NAC companion report.
- In 2021, 11.9% of U.S. adults received care at home from a friend or family member during the prior 12 months.
- Family caregivers of adults provided an estimated 49.5 billion hours of care in 2024.
- The estimated replacement-cost value of family caregiving was $20.41 per hour in 2024.
- The 2024 replacement-cost estimate was approximately $1.01 trillion, using 49.5 billion hours and $20.41 per hour.
Contents
- How many Americans provide care
- Caregiver demographics and family roles
- Caregiving hours and daily activities
- Intensity, training, and complex care
- Health, financial, and employment impacts
- Home care and economic value
How Many Americans Provide Care? Caregiver Scale and Trends
The broadest measure here comes from Caregiving in the US 2025. It defines family caregiving broadly enough to include ongoing care to an adult or child with a medical condition or disability, and the source notes that the definition can include paid family caregivers in some programs.
The report estimated 63.0 million U.S. adults provided this type of care during the 12 months before the 2025 survey. That was almost one-quarter of U.S. adults and represented a 45% increase over the comparable 2015 study, although repeated survey waves may differ in definitions and fielding.
Within the 2025 estimate, about 59 million caregivers cared for an adult and about 4 million cared for children under 18 with an illness or disability. The child figure is a subset of family caregivers, not a count of all parents or childcare providers.
Source: Caregiving in the US 2025 Report: Downloads.
Caregiver Demographics and Family Roles
Definitions change the apparent size of the caregiving population. The 2025 survey found that 94% of family caregivers cared for adults and one-third were younger than 50, while the BLS measure focuses specifically on unpaid care for a person age 65 or older who needs help because of an aging-related condition.
| BLS eldercare measure | 2023–2024 average |
|---|---|
| Providers age 15+ | 38.192 million |
| Share of population age 15+ | 14% |
| Women’s provider rate | 15.1% |
| Men’s provider rate | 12.9% |
Among people age 15 and over, eldercare-provider rates were 5.6% for ages 15–24, 7.6% for ages 25–34, and 11.4% for ages 35–44. The rate increased to 18.8% for ages 45–54 and 24.1% for ages 55–64, before reaching 16.8% among people age 65 and older.
The BLS estimate also shows the overlap between eldercare and parenting. There were 7.6 million eldercare providers who were parents of children living at home, and 55% of those parents cared for their own parent; this does not include every sandwich-generation arrangement outside the household.
Among these eldercare-provider parents, 86% were employed, including 72% employed full time. Full-time employment was reported for 84% of fathers and 60% of mothers in this subgroup; these are population characteristics, not estimates of caregiving’s causal effect on employment.
Source: Unpaid Eldercare in the United States – 2023-2024 Data from the American Time Use Survey.
Caregiving Hours, Frequency, and Daily Activities
The BLS data use time diaries, so the figures below describe diary days and care days rather than a single annual total. In 2023–2024, 28% of eldercare providers provided care on an average day, and those who provided care spent 3.9 hours on care days.
| Eldercare provider group | Care-day measure, 2023–2024 average |
|---|---|
| All eldercare providers age 15+ | 3.9 hours per care day |
| Providers age 65+ | 39.5% provided care on an average day |
| Providers age 65+ | 4.93 hours per care day |
| Parents with children at home | 18% provided care on an average day |
| Parents with children at home | 2.4 hours per care day |
Care-related time also includes ordinary household and social activities. On care days, 42% of eldercare providers did household activities, spending 53 minutes in them; food preparation and cleanup involved 33%, while housework involved 15%.
Leisure and sports-related caregiving involved 39% of eldercare providers on care days and averaged 1.3 hours. Socializing and communicating involved 22% and averaged 25 minutes.
Care-day time varied by age. Providers ages 25–34 spent 2.08 hours on care days, compared with 4.11 hours for ages 55–64; providers ages 35–44 spent 3.78 hours, compared with 2.16 hours for ages 45–54.
These are descriptive, conditional estimates, and age-group results can be affected by sample variability.
Source: Unpaid Eldercare in the United States – 2023-2024 Data from the American Time Use Survey.
Caregiving Intensity, Training, and Complex Care
The 2025 Caregiving in the US Level of Care Index combines hours with assistance for activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living. It is an index classification, not a clinical severity scale.
| Level of care | Share of family caregivers |
|---|---|
| High intensity, 2025 | 44.3% |
| Medium intensity, 2025 | 18.8% |
| Low intensity, 2025 | 36.8% |
The high-intensity share rose from 40.0% in 2015 to 40.5% in 2020 and 44.3% in 2025. Low-intensity caregiving fell from 41.6% in 2015 to 36.8% in 2025, while medium-intensity caregiving rose from 16.3% in 2020 to 18.8% in 2025; these are differences between repeated survey classifications, not causal trend estimates.
Despite many caregivers performing complex medical tasks, only 22% reported receiving training in the 2025 survey. Among caregivers who received training, 28% were trained by a nurse, 22% by a doctor or physician, and 20% by a nurse practitioner or physician assistant.
Source: What are Caregivers Doing?. The training measure is self-reported and does not establish whether training was adequate.
Caregiver Health, Financial, and Employment Impacts
The 2025 report identified 18 million employed family caregivers as hourly wage workers. Hourly status does not by itself indicate low income, but it identifies a large employed subgroup within the broader caregiving population.
A companion AARP/NAC 2025 report focused on caregivers of adults age 50 and older. That population provided an average of 26 hours of care per week and had provided care for an average of five years at the time of the survey; these measures should not be combined with BLS diary-day hours.
High-intensity caregiving among caregivers of adults age 50 and older was 44% in 2025, compared with 39% in 2020. Nearly one in four in this population cared for someone with a memory issue or dementia; the source uses rounded wording for that estimate.
Source: Caregiving in the US 2025 Report: Downloads. The companion-report population and index context differ from the broad 2025 family-caregiver statistics.
Home Care Receipt and the Economic Value of Caregiving
Caregiving statistics also describe people receiving care. According to the CDC’s 2021 National Health Interview Survey, 11.9% of U.S. adults age 18 and older received care at home from a friend or family member during the prior 12 months.
| Adult age group | Received care at home, 2021 |
|---|---|
| 18–44 | 9.8% |
| 45–64 | 10.5% |
| 65–74 | 13.8% |
| 75–84 | 19.4% |
| 85+ | 39.8% |
The CDC measure covers the civilian noninstitutionalized population, and respondents interpreted care broadly, including personal and household tasks. The age gradient is therefore a pattern in reported home-care receipt, not a measure of all caregiving or institutional care.
For 2024, AARP estimated that family caregivers of adults provided 49.5 billion hours of care. Its replacement-cost valuation was $20.41 per hour, up from $16.59 in the earlier comparison year; this is not an observed wage series and reflects home-care costs, direct-care wages, and minimum wages.
Using those two 2024 estimates, the replacement-cost estimate is approximately $1.01 trillion. The result is arithmetic based on source estimates, so rounding and valuation assumptions carry through, and it should not be interpreted as wages actually paid to family caregivers.
Source: The Economic Value of Family Caregiving.