Elderly care spans unpaid family support, community services, home health, adult day programs and residential long-term care. The figures below distinguish the global 60-plus population from common U.S. 65-plus measures, and separate observed survey results from estimates and forecasts.
Key Elderly Care Statistics
The most broadly useful figures are:
- In 2020, about 1 billion people worldwide were aged 60 or older.
- By 2030, 1 in 6 people worldwide is projected to be aged 60 or older.
- The global population aged 60 or older is projected to reach 1.4 billion by 2030.
- The global population aged 60 or older is projected to reach 2.1 billion by 2050.
- The number of people aged 80 or older is projected to reach 426 million by 2050, triple its 2020 level.
- In 2050, 2 in 3 people aged over 60 are projected to live in low- and middle-income countries.
- In 2023–2024, 38.2 million U.S. people aged 15 and over provided unpaid eldercare, equal to 14% of the civilian noninstitutional population.
- In 2023–2024, U.S. eldercare providers spent 3.9 hours on caregiving activities on days they provided care.
- In 2021, home care from a friend or family member reached 39.8% of U.S. adults aged 85 and older during the prior 12 months.
- In 2022, U.S. adult day services centers served about 182,000 participants across about 3,100 centers.
- In 2022, 61% of U.S. adult day services center participants needed assistance with three to six activities of daily living.
- In 2022, 43.9% of U.S. adults aged 65 and older reported a disability.
- In 2020, 27.6% of U.S. adults aged 65 and older reported a fall during the prior year, representing 14 million people.
- In 2021, 38,742 U.S. adults aged 65 and older died from unintentional falls.
- OECD countries averaged 46 long-term-care beds per 1,000 people aged 65 and older in 2021.
- The United States had 11,474 Medicare-certified home health agencies in 2021.
- More than 1.2 million residents lived in U.S. nursing homes each day in 2023.
- CMS proposed 0.55 registered-nurse hours and 2.45 nurse-aide hours per nursing-home resident per day in 2023.
Contents
- Global elderly care scale and ageing trends
- Unpaid eldercare participation and time
- Formal and community-based elderly care
- Functional needs and chronic conditions
- Safety, outcomes and care costs
- Workforce and long-term-care capacity
Global Elderly Care Scale and Ageing Trends
WHO uses age 60 and older for its global ageing measures, while many U.S. care statistics use age 65 and older. That distinction matters when comparing population scale with service participation.
| Measure | Period | Result |
|---|---|---|
| People aged 60+ worldwide | 2015 | About 900 million |
| People aged 60+ worldwide | 2020 | About 1 billion |
| Projected people aged 60+ worldwide | 2030 | 1.4 billion |
| Projected people aged 60+ worldwide | 2050 | 2.1 billion |
Source: WHO, Ageing and health; the 2015 estimate is from WHO, Abuse of older people.
WHO projects that people aged 60 or older will represent one in six people worldwide in 2030. The population aged 80 or older is projected to triple from 2020 to 426 million by 2050, while two in three people over 60 are projected to live in low- and middle-income countries in 2050.
About 30% of Japan’s population is already over 60, according to the WHO fact sheet. The 2030 and 2050 figures are WHO projections, not observed counts.
Unpaid Eldercare Participation and Time in the United States
The American Time Use Survey defines eldercare as unpaid care for someone aged 65 or older who needs help because of an ageing-related condition. Its 2023–2024 results are a two-year average for the U.S. civilian noninstitutional population.
- The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that 14% of people aged 15 and over, or 38.2 million people, provided unpaid eldercare in 2023–2024.
- Twenty-eight percent of U.S. eldercare providers provided care on a given day, and they spent an average of 3.9 hours on caregiving activities on care days.
- Among providers aged 65 and older, 40% provided care on a given day and spent 4.9 hours on care days.
- Care was reported on a given day by 64% of providers caring only for someone in their household, compared with 18% of those caring only for someone outside their household.
- Providers caring solely for a parent spent 1.1 hours per day providing eldercare on an average day.
- Thirty-eight percent of nonemployed providers provided care on an average day, compared with 21% of employed providers; on care days, the respective averages were 4.8 and 2.8 hours.
- Twenty-nine percent of female providers and 26% of male providers provided care on an average day.
- Forty-two percent of providers engaged in household-related caregiving on care days, spending 53 minutes in those activities.
These measures describe participation and time, not the total amount of care received by older adults. They also should not be treated as equivalent to the broader caregiver measures below.
Formal and Community-Based Elderly Care Data
The 2021–2022 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System caregiver infographic covers regular care or assistance to a friend or family member with a health problem or disability, not only older adults. Within that broader definition, one in five U.S. adults were caregivers across 47 states and Puerto Rico.
- More than 50% of caregivers had provided care for at least two years, and nearly 33% had provided at least 20 hours per week.
- More than 50% assisted with personal care, while nearly 80% managed household tasks.
- Twenty-four percent of caregivers were aged 65 or older, 35% cared for a parent or parent-in-law, and 22% provided care to someone with dementia.
- One in seven noncaregivers expected to become caregivers within two years.
Source: CDC, CAREGIVING all adults 2021–2022. These percentages use the BRFSS caregiver definition, which is broader than eldercare.
Care received at home also increased with age in the 2021 National Health Interview Survey. Among civilian noninstitutionalized U.S. adults receiving care from a friend or family member during the prior 12 months, the rate was 13.8% at ages 65–74, 19.4% at ages 75–84 and 39.8% at ages 85 and older; care was respondent-defined and could include personal or household tasks.
See CDC QuickStats.
In 2022, about 3,100 U.S. adult day services centers served about 182,000 participants. Sixty-eight percent of participants were aged 65 or older, and 79% had some or all services paid by Medicaid during the 30 days before the survey.
These are official estimates for the stated population and period, not a census. Source: CDC NCHS Data Brief 502.
Functional Needs, Disability and Chronic Conditions
Adult day services participants illustrate the intensity of needs among people using a formal community-based setting. In 2022, 61% needed assistance with three to six activities of daily living; the definition includes help, supervision or assistive devices.
| Indicator among U.S. adult day services participants | 2022 share |
|---|---|
| Needed help with bathing | 67.4% |
| Needed help with eating | 40.3% |
| Had two or three of 10 tracked chronic conditions | 46.9% |
| Had four to 10 of those conditions | 17.7% |
| High blood pressure | 50% |
| Alzheimer disease or other dementias | 34.1% |
| Diabetes | 27.8% |
| Osteoporosis | 19% |
| Arthritis | 18.5% |
Source: CDC NCHS Data Brief 502. The chronic-condition counts cover only the 10 conditions tracked in that report.
The broader U.S. disability picture is also substantial: 43.9% of adults aged 65 and older reported a disability in 2022, defined by serious difficulty in at least one functional domain. Across all adult ages, more than 70 million U.S. adults reported a disability, or more than one in four adults.
Source: CDC Data Shows Over 70 Million U.S. Adults Reported Having a Disability.
Elderly Care Safety, Outcomes and Costs
Falls are a measurable safety outcome associated with older-adult care needs. In 2020, 27.6% of U.S. adults aged 65 and older, or 14 million people, reported falling during the prior year; the estimate is self-reported and excludes long-term-care facility residents.
- In 2020, the reported fall rate was 28.9% for U.S. women aged 65 and older and 26.1% for men.
- In 2021, 38,742 U.S. adults aged 65 and older died from unintentional falls, a rate of 78.0 deaths per 100,000.
- The 2021 fall-related death rate was 91.4 per 100,000 for men and 68.3 per 100,000 for women.
- CDC reports about 4.5 million emergency-department visits each year due to falls among older people, including 3.1 million treated-and-released visits and 1.4 million hospitalizations.
- Medical costs attributed to nonfatal and fatal falls among U.S. adults aged 65 and older total approximately $50 billion per year.
Sources: CDC, Nonfatal and Fatal Falls Among Adults Aged ≥65 Years and CDC, Facts About Falls. The annual visit and cost figures are estimates in the cited CDC materials.
A program outcome measure comes from the National Family Caregiver Support Program. More than 700,000 caregivers received services in fiscal year 2014; in the most recent national survey of caregivers of older-adult clients reported on the ACL page, 88% said services helped them become better caregivers and nearly 62% said that without services the care recipient would be living in a nursing home.
These are caregiver-reported findings, not causal estimates. Source: ACL, National Family Caregiver Support Program.
Elderly Care Workforce and Long-Term-Care Capacity
Across OECD countries, the average supply was 46 long-term-care beds per 1,000 people aged 65 and older in 2021: 42 beds were in long-term-care facilities and four were in hospitals. Country coverage and facility definitions vary.
| Capacity measure | Period | Result |
|---|---|---|
| OECD long-term-care beds | 2021 | 46 per 1,000 people aged 65+ |
| OECD facility beds | 2021 | 42 per 1,000 people aged 65+ |
| OECD hospital beds | 2021 | 4 per 1,000 people aged 65+ |
| Change in facility beds | 2011–2021 | Down 4.7 per 1,000 people aged 65+ |
| COVID-19 deaths among nursing-home residents | Pandemic period; 25 OECD countries | More than 40% |
Source: OECD, Health at a Glance 2023. Pandemic periods and reporting comparability vary by country.
The U.S. formal-care system included 11,474 Medicare-certified home health agencies in 2021, and approximately 3 million Medicare Fee-for-Service beneficiaries used home health care that year. Home health was used by 8.3% of all Medicare Fee-for-Service beneficiaries in 2020.
Source: CMS, Home Health Quality Reporting Program.
More than 1.2 million residents lived in U.S. nursing homes each day in 2023, alongside more than 500,000 direct-care workers. CMS proposed minimum staffing of 0.55 registered-nurse hours and 2.45 nurse-aide hours per resident per day, and estimated that about 75% of nursing homes would need to strengthen staffing to meet the proposed standards; these were proposed standards and estimates, not observed staffing levels.
Source: CMS, HHS Proposes Minimum Staffing Standards.
Workforce economics vary by location and occupation. In Louisiana in 2019, the median nursing-assistant wage was $10.90 per hour, compared with $13.41 for other entry-level jobs, according to the CMS proposal page.