Why Long-Term Care is a Women's Issue

Having a written long-term care plan is important for every family in America, but particularly for women. Almost always, the female takes ultimate responsibility for the day-to-day care of a family member who is ill or disabled. In our years of working with financial professionals to assist families with LTC Planning, I have personally listened to the stories of women whose lives have been totally altered due to the long-term care needs of a loved one. Similar stories involving men are also becoming more common. But the majority of informal caregivers in our country -- almost 72% of the estimated 7 million providers of care -- are female.

Women tend to be more comfortable and skilled in the role of caregiver, especially if they’ve also had children. But providing care comes at a heavy price: with the accompanying emotional and physical stress of being a caregiver, a woman has a 63% higher risk of dying earlier than a woman of the same age who does not become a caregiver.

But the prospect of becoming a caregiver should not be the only reason for women to ask their financial professional about LTC Planning for their family—it’s also vital that they plan for their own care. Women make up the largest percentage of residents in all types of long-term care facilities, with the majority being widowed or divorced. Because women usually marry men at least a few years older than ourselves, and live about seven years longer than men, by age 85, only 13% of women are still married.

By contrast, men make up the majority of people being taken care of at home. Normally, a wife or daughter helps her husband and parents through to the end. But her resources are limited when she needs long-term care. Unable to rely on informal, unpaid care from relatives at home, older women are usually forced to rely on more formal and costly solutions, such as a nursing home.

Choices for women were limited in earlier generations. Thankfully, they now have access to the knowledge and resources needed to actively participate in planning ahead for their family’s well being. Women will always be “caretakers,” but their role today includes careful advanced planning for the potential long-term care of their loved ones and themselves. If they don’t proactively plan ahead, the comfortable and healthy retirement women envision may be greatly altered, and even cut short by the consequences of providing or receiving long-term care.