29 percent of Americans (65 million people) provide care for their ailing, aged family members and friends every year. 66 percent of caregivers are women; typically she is a 49 year old married, employed woman whose widowed mother needs increasing amounts of help. This typical caregiver also has her own children living at home. The term for this caregiver has been coined: ‘the sandwich generation’ because she is caring for her elders and her own children simultaneously.
Why has caregiving become so common and needed? People live longer now. In 1900, a baby girl born could expect to live 48.3 years. A baby boy born in 1900 had an average life expectancy of 46.3 years. By comparison, a baby girl born in 2005 can expect to live 80.4 years while a boy born in 2005 has a life expectancy of 75.2 years (averages and all races). The disease killers of 1900 (consumption including tuberculosis) and pneumonia have been treated and often cured by improved medical care and drugs, especially antibiotics. By comparison, in 2005 the top three killers of Americans are heart disease, cancer and stroke. Because of the improved medical advances, people are living longer and needing caregiving help in their later years.
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