Ending Hunger in America, 2014 Hunger Report Full Report | Page 80
relying on the income of one person in a poverty-wage job could afford a two-bedroom apartment at fair market rates.58 In addition, child care is hard to find—particularly high-quality
child care, and particularly care during the nontraditional days and hours required of many
low-wage workers.
These families have good reason to feel frustrated. Having the second parent enter the
paid workforce may make their household income look good on paper, but paying for
child care and other work-related expenses makes their actual financial situation far less
rosy. Suzanne Bianchi, professor
of sociology at UCLA, explains:
“They may feel that they have done
everything right—completed high
school or some college, married
before having children, worked
hard at their jobs—and yet they still
struggle to carve out a reasonable
family life and hold onto jobs that
are critical to their family’s economic well-being.”59
Adult Care
Richard Lord
People 85 and older
are the fastest
growing share of
the U.S. population,
with about two-thirds
reporting functional
limitations performing
routine daily tasks.
70? Chapter 2
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While child care is a major
concern for many workers, many
others need to care for adult family
members, especially elders, who
are sick or disabled. Some workers
face both challenges at once. About
25 percent of workers report that
they have elder-care responsibilities; by 2020, this figure is expected to rise to 40 percent.60
With the baby boom generation now starting to retire and advances in health care making it
possible for people to live longer, adults in the coming decades may start to spend more years
caring for their parents than for their children.
The typical caregiver is between the ages of 35 and 64, female, and employed.61 Women—
most often wives or adult daughters—provide more than 75 percent of the care given to
adult family members.62 While relatives may well be caring for elders out of love, it is likely
to be a financial necessity as well, since the cost of paid care for elderly people is outpacing
the ability of families to pay for it.63 In 2009, the American Association of Retired Persons
(AARP) put the value of unpaid care at $450 billion a year, more than twice what the country
spends on paid long-term care services from all sources.64
The Family and Medical Leave Act is the only law that deals specifically with the challenges of working while providing elder care.65 For those who qualify, the offer of up to 12
weeks of unpaid leave is better than nothing, but it is not feasible for most low- and moderateincome families, nor will it meet the needs of those whose relatives have chronic health
problems rather than an acute crisis once a year. “Two-thirds [of caregivers] say they reduce
hours at work [when they start caring for elders],” says Howard Gleckman, author of Caring
Bread for the World Institute