Commentary: The Great Caregiving Comeback

August 20, 2018

(U.S. News & World Report) – Still, there is one trend – borne of a gradual shift in public perception but grounded in economics – that underscores the potential leverage of family caregivers: the rise in multigenerational households. According to a 2016 Pew Research survey, one-fifth of U.S. households are now multigenerational, a proportion closer to that of the 1950s (21 percent) than of more recent decades (12 percent in 1980). Many of these households include an elder being cared for by children and grandchildren, signaling a shift from the way families handle long-term and end-of-life care.