Biotech Values

[Biowatch]

Discovering The True Cost Of At-Home Caregiving

by MARILYN GEEWAX
http://www.npr.org/2012/05/01/151472617/discovering-the-true-cost-of-at-home-caregiving

Hunter belongs to one of three families being profiled in NPR's eight-week series, Family Matters: The Money Squeeze, which airs each Tuesday on Morning Edition. Each family is struggling with how to afford care for an older generation. The do-it-yourself approach is both common and costly...

Some women's groups say Congress should expand tax credits available to people with dependent relatives and create "caregiving credits" to limit the Social Security penalty for time spent out of the labor force to provide family care.

The Caregiver Credit Campaign, an advocacy effort, says such help is warranted because without voluntary caregivers, "hundreds of billions of government dollars would be spent on alternatives like institutions."

Expensive and time consuming = bad way to build your nest egg.