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Sep 8, 20233 min read

DEI & Caring for Caregivers: Part 1

Updated: Feb 26, 2024

In the tapestry of diversity and inclusion topics, it's essential to shine a light on a group often overlooked – caregivers. This post focuses on unpaid individuals who are caregivers, including spouses, family, friends, and neighbors, who play a crucial role in assisting loved ones with daily living and medical tasks. Yet, not all companies fully grasp their significance. Our journey begins by acknowledging some statistics and considerations when it comes to the needs and experiences of caregivers within the broader DEI landscape.





Recognizing Caregivers


In today's diverse workplaces, unpaid caregivers are on the rise, constituting about 73% of the workforce. They include parents, those caring for elderly family members, and those tending to sick or disabled loved ones. Yet, shocking statistics reveal that only 56% of caregivers disclose their caregiving situation to their supervisors. (National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP, 2015).


The Spectrum of Care


Workplace caregiving policies tend to focus on welcoming a new child - and most of those policies still have much room to improve. Yet, a regular sequence of caregiving events tend to unfold across an individual's life. This encompasses caring for children or adults with disabilities, illnesses, or chronic conditions, and caring for aging parents or relatives. It's vital to recognize this broader spectrum of caregiving experiences.


For example, families—not institutions—provide the majority of care to chronically ill and disabled persons. The numbers are staggering - more than 1 in 6 Americans balance work with caregiving responsibilities for elderly or disabled family members, relatives, or friends (Gallup-Healthways, 2011).


A Balancing Act


The caregiver workforce encompasses individuals spanning various age groups, reflecting the immense diversity within this group. Over half of employed caregivers work full-time (56%), 16% work between 30 and 39 hours, and 25% work fewer than 30 hours a week.


Almost half of caregivers feel like they have no other option than to take on caregiving responsibilities, with this sense of obligation being even more significant for those providing over 21 hours of care per week and live-in caregivers.


However, this intricate balancing act often leads to challenges. For 70% of working caregivers, their dual roles result in work-related difficulties. Over 60% experience at least one change in their employment due to caregiving, such as cutting back work hours, turning down a promotion, losing benefits, taking leaves of absence, or receiving performance or attendance warnings. 39% of caregivers leave their job to have more time to care for a loved one. 34% leave because their work does not provide flexible hours.


(National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP, 2015)


Common Stressors, Diverse Backgrounds


While caregivers share common stressors like balancing work and caregiving, they may experience workplace culture around caregiving differently. An employee’s intersecting identities and backgrounds can introduce additional nuances, which are also often intertwined with larger existing issues of equity and inclusion. Here are just a few examples:

  • In mainstream American culture, elder care often involves nursing homes and professional staff. Yet, different cultures perceive and manage family caregiving uniquely. Many communities around the world tend to favor aging in place, with caregiving deeply rooted in family life - and many of these are BIPOC communities.

  • Intersecting racial inequalities create additional hardships for BIPOC caregivers. For example, AAPI caregivers are less likely to utilize professional assistance in caregiving due to a lack of access to culturally relevant care (APA, 2011).

  • Black caregivers work longer hours of both care and work), are more likely to be the sole provider of care, and start caregiving nearly a decade earlier than white caregivers (AARP and National Alliance for Caregiving, 2020).

  • Upwards of 75% of caregivers are women, and they face unique economic hardships. They generally have less resources and support, and are more likely than men to make alternate work arrangements, including taking less demanding jobs or giving up careers entirely. Single women caring for their parents are 2.5x more likely than non-caregivers to live in poverty in old age (Donato, K. & Wakabayashi, C., 2006).

  • LGBTQ+ employees are more likely to have provided caregiving to adults over 50 years of age than their non-LGBTQ+ peers. LGBTQ+ older adults are also more likely to be both living alone and receiving care from chosen family (such as close friends and neighbors) than non-LGBTQ+ older adults. It’s crucial to support employees who help all elders in their lives, especially those facing stigma and legal barriers around their care (SAGE, 2017).

Stay tuned for more in Part 2!



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