Caregivers face soaring costs, taking a toll on income and jobs

Wendy Mayo knows firsthand how expensive and time-consuming caring for an aging parent can be. The 44-year-old Connecticut resident and her two siblings help look after their mother, who has Alzheimer's disease and requires around-the-clock supervision. The siblings split the cost of care, which includes employing a professional caregiver, paying their mother's rent, and spending to adapt the home to accommodate her condition."We pay her rent and bought stuff to prevent bedsores, plus bed alarms because she was getting out of bed and wandering around," Mayo told CBS News. "So we also invested in cameras to watch her, and all those things add up when you're a caregiver." Mayo estimates she spends $15,000 annually caring for her mom, while the siblings spend a combined $45,000.

Caregivers for aging relatives and other loved ones have seen their out-of-pocket costs skyrocket over the past five years, according to a new study from AARP. On average, caregivers today spend more than $11,500 per year looking after people who need support, up roughly 60% from 2021, the group found.For households that earn less than $40,000 a year, caregiving costs consume more than three-quarters of their annual income, on average, according to AARP. The hardships can also be significant for members of the "sandwich generation" — middle-aged adults who are raising children while also caring