Eldercare can involve a range of care activities, such as
assisting with grooming and feeding, preparing meals, arranging
medical care, and providing transportation; it also can involve
providing companionship or being available to assist whenever
help is needed, and therefore can be associated with nearly any
activity. Eldercare providers are those who give unpaid care to
someone over the age of 65 who needs help because of a condition
related to aging.1 The 2011 American Time Use Survey for the
first time collected information about eldercare providers and
the time they spent providing care. In 2011, an estimated 39.8
million people in the United States, or 16 percent of the
civilian noninstitutional population age 15 and over, were
eldercare providers. A majority (56 percent) were women. Among
the civilian noninstitutional population age 15 and over,
individuals ages 45 to 54 and 55 to 64 were the most likely to
provide eldercare (23 and 22 percent, respectively), followed by
those age 65 and over (16 perc