This sobering question comes to us from the AARP Public Policy Institute: Will families be ready to care for baby boomers as they age?
According to the research institute, the future availability of family caregivers age 45-64 for each person 80 and older has been steadily trending lower. In 2010, the caregiver support ratio was more than 7.2 potential caregivers for each senior over the age of 80. However, by 2030 this ratio will drop to 4.1 to one, and by 2050 to only 2.9 to one.
AARP senior policy analyst Lynn Feinberg says more than two-thirds of Americans believe they will be able to rely on their families to meet their needs when they need long-term care. But this confidence is likely to deflate when it collides with the dramatically shrinking availability of family caregivers in the future.
The good news is that some seniors appear to truly enjoy community living, according to information shared by Holleran Consulting LLC. In a survey involving 265 senior living communities in 36 states, 89.3 percent of independent living respondents rated their overall satisfaction as good or excellent. And 84.5 percent said they would recommend their community to someone else.
Similar surveys of assisted living and skilled nursing home respondents also reported high levels of satisfaction in the middle to upper 80th percentile, the survey revealed.
