AARP Hearing Center
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Family Caregiving: A $1 Trillion Backbone of U.S. Care
Family caregivers’ contributions to the U.S. economy exceeded $1 trillion in economic value in 2024, according to a new report from the AARP Public Policy Institute, Valuing the Invaluable 2026. This estimate reflects the scale of mostly unpaid care provided to older parents, spouses, and other adults—care that underpins the nation’s long‑term care system but is rarely accounted for in economic or policy decision‑making.
The report finds that family caregivers provided 49.5 billion hours of care, often while balancing paid work and other responsibilities. As the population ages and caregiving roles expand, the findings highlight the need for policies, workplace practices, and health systems that more fully recognize caregivers’ economic contributions and address their varied needs.
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Spotlight
Caregiving in the US 2025: Caring Across States
New research from AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving highlights how location shapes the caregiving experience, revealing significant differences in financial strain, care intensity, and available support across U.S. states. With nearly one in four adults serving as family caregivers, this state-by-state analysis provides the most comprehensive view yet of the challenges they face.
The AARP Healthy Aging Monitor
This tool produces national estimates on the utilization of key preventive services recommended for adults in midlife and beyond. Preventive care is especially important for midlife and older adults since the risks of many chronic diseases—such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes—increase with age.
The Second Fifty: Answers to the 7 Big Questions of Midlife and Beyond
In The Second Fifty, Debra Whitman, Chief Public Policy Officer at AARP, leads us through the most important questions people face as they age and offers practical advice that can enable Americans to live a longer, healthier, more meaningful second half of life.
AARP Public Policies
AARP’s public policies are the foundation of our work. Learn more about the AARP Policy Book and our Policy Fundamentals.