Increased Vulnerability to Economic Downturn Among Family Caregivers: The Impact of the Great Recession

Background and Purpose

The differential impact of the Great Recession on Americans—by gender, race, age, and education-level—has received considerable attention, but little is known about how the economic downturn impacted family caregivers, known to be financially vulnerable even in usual economic times. This paper examines whether family caregivers were at an increased risk to the financial harms of the 2007 to 2009 Recession.

Methods

Data.This study draws on data from the third wave of the Midlife Development in the US (MIDUS) panel dataset (2013-2014) and refresher sample (2011-2014). Because of the unique economic circumstances of retirees, those who were retired at either the start of the Recession or at the time of data collection were excluded (N=2288).

Measures. Family caregivers were those who provided personal care to someone with a disability or illness since 2010 (peak unemployment) or earlier (N=159). (Those who began caregiving after 2010 were excluded from analysis.) Participants were asked whether any of 19 negative financial events occurred to them since the start of the Recession (e.g., job loss). A summary index was created by adding possible events, with scores ranging from 0-19. Covariates included age, gender, race, educational attainment, marital status, number of years spent caregiving, employment status in 2008 and at time of data collection, and overall financial situation in 2008.

Analysis. Chi-squared analysis was used to compare caregivers and non-caregivers on the extent to which each group experienced negative financial outcomes. The odds of caregivers experiencing negative financial outcomes compared to non-caregivers was identified using logistic regression while controlling for covariates. Negative binomial regression was then applied to examine the impact of caregiving on the summary index. All analyses were completed using population stratified weights.

Results

Caregivers were more likely than non-caregivers to report experiencing negative financial events since the Recession. Bivariate findings for 13 of the 19 negative financial events revealed statistically significant differences between caregivers and non-caregivers (p<.05). Bivariate differences between caregivers and non-caregivers largely remained even after stratifying bivariate analyses by age, race, gender, and educational attainment. After applying logistic regression to each negative financial outcome since the Recession, it was found that caregivers had higher odds of experiencing 9 of the 19 outcomes than non-caregivers. Finally, a negative binomial regression using the summary index variable of all 19 negative financial events indicated caregivers were significantly more likely to experience negative financial events since the Recession than non-caregivers, even after controlling for covariates (B=.30, p<.001).

Conclusions

Caregivers were more vulnerable to the financial harm since the 2007-2009 Recession. While economic stimulus made in response to the Recession attenuated financial losses for some populations (e.g., investment in construction jobs, an industry dominated by men), caregivers did not receive similar targeted support. Future policy responses to economic downturn should include remedies specifically for caregivers; tax credits for out-of-pocket caregiving costs and increased job protections, for example, could lessen financial harm to this population.