Veterans Are Caregivers, Often Caring for Other Veterans

The purpose of this study was to explore attitudes and perspectives among U.S. veterans 45-plus as well as U.S. veteran (45-plus) caregivers regarding their experiences providing care, necessary home modification, resources used, and military benefits realized.

Key Findings

• More than half (54%) of U.S. veterans age 45-plus say they are either currently or have previously provided care to an adult loved one, relative, or friend to help them take care of themselves.
  
• More than half (57%) of veteran caregivers age 45–49 are currently providing care to a veteran.
  
• Veteran caregivers 45-plus support their loved one in a variety of ways and spend a significant amount of time providing this care. In fact, one-third (37%) of current caregivers report spending more than 20 hours per week on care. Half (49%) of younger caregivers (under age 60) spend more than 20 hours on caregiving each week, compared to a third (29%) of caregivers 60-plus.
  
• Not surprisingly, this level of care also requires proximity to their loved one, and nine in 10 (88%) current caregivers either have their loved ones living in the same house or within 20 minutes of their home.
  
• Nearly half (46%) of all veterans 45-plus report needing bathroom modifications to age in place or provide care for a loved one at home. Current veteran caregivers generally report an even higher need for bathroom modifications (55%) to continue providing care.
  
• Three-quarters of current veteran caregivers (79%) use their own money to provide care, and about half have either taken time off work (48%) or made changes to their home (41%) to accommodate their loved one.
  
• A majority of veterans say it’s important for them to stay in their homes if they need long-term care, however, more than a quarter of veterans report they need financial assistance to make home modifications so they can age in their homes.
  

Many of the veterans surveyed are not familiar with the VA’s Aid and Attendance benefits and Housebound Allowance or the adaptive housing grants for disabled veterans.

Methodology

This survey was conducted by ANR Market Research Consultants on behalf of AARP.

We surveyed a total of 1,311 United States veterans 45 or older who indicated they had served in the U.S. Armed Forces, Reserves, or National Guard and identified at least one service era in which they served. The survey was fielded December 10–17, 2023.

The total sample of 1,311 completed surveys (between the base and oversample) includes 1,001 respondents in the base sample as well as 401 U.S. veteran (45-plus) caregivers. Between the base and oversample, we had 217 landline and 213 cell completes as well as 434 completes via text-to-web. An additional 447 surveys were completed online via a nonprobability panel.

For more information, please contact Cassandra Burton at ccantave@aarp.org. For media inquiries, please contact External Relations at media@aarp.org.