Mothers

[Madspirit]

http://www.now.org/issues/mothers/facts.html

Fast Facts: Mothers in the United States
Estimated number of mothers of all ages in the United States: 80.5 million

Percentage of women 40 to 44 years old who are mothers: 81%

Approximate number of women who give birth each year in the United States: 4 million. Of this number, about 415,000 are age 15 to 19, and more than 100,000 new moms are age 40 or older.

Average age of women when they give birth for the first time: 25.2 (a record high)

Average number of children that U.S. women today can expect to have in their lifetime: 2.0

Number of stay-at-home moms, in 2004: 5.6 million

Number of stay-at-home dads: 143,000

Among mothers of infants, percentage in the labor force: 55%

The percentage of women who gave birth to their first child and returned to work within four months: 51%

Percentage of mothers, ages 15 to 44, whose oldest child is age 3-5, in the labor force: 67%

Percentage of mothers, with children age 5 and under, employed full-time, year round: 33%

Percentage of mothers, ages 15 to 44, whose youngest child is 12 or older, in the labor force: 80%

Number of single mothers living with children under 18: 10 million

Fast Facts: Caregivers in the United States
Selected characteristics of "informal" or "family" caregivers, unpaid caregivers who care for elderly or disabled adults in their families or communities

Women and men, age 18 and older, who provide unpaid care to an adult age 18 or older: 44.4 million

Percentage of caregivers who care for family members: 83%

Percentage of caregivers who either work or have worked while providing care: 59%

Percentage of employed caregivers who say they've had to make some adjustments to their work life, from reporting late to work to giving up work entirely: 62%

Number of informal caregivers who are the primary caregiver of the person they care for: 71%

Number of caregivers who report they are the only person providing unpaid care to the person they care for: 37%

Estimated percentage of informal caregivers who are women: 69% - 75%
Although men also provide care, female caregivers may spend as much as 50% more time providing care than male caregivers and are less likely to be employed full time.

Estimated value the informal care women provide, annually: $148 to $188 billion

Percentage of women caregivers who report experiencing emotional stress due to their care giving role: 40%

Percentage of male caregivers who do: 26%

Young caregivers: Nationwide, approximately 1.3 to 1.4 million informal caregivers are between the ages of 8 and 18. 70% of young caregivers are caring for a parent or grandparent.

Caregivers most frequently reported unmet needs: finding time for myself (35%), managing emotional and physical stress (29%), and balancing work and family responsibilities (29%).

Sources:
U.S. Census Bureau; CDC National Center Health Statistics; Institute for Women's Policy Research; National Alliance for Caregiving; Family Caregiver Alliance.

[Madspirit]

1. kick

[Donald Ian Rankin]

2. The government should be supporting those who need care.

A position I commonly see put forwards is that the government should pay carers, because the work they do is valuable, and often won't be paid otherwise.

I think this somewhat misses the point. The work carers do *is* valuable; to the person they're caring for, (and their loved ones, presumably including the carer themself). As such, that person should be the one paying for it.

Given a choice between doing some "normal" job and being paid for it, and caring for their aged parents and being paid for it, very few people will choose the former - both options result in you being paid, and the latter results in you having cared-for parents as well. I think that would be clearly unfair.

What the state *should* be doing, in my view, is providing decent benefits/pensions to those who demonstrably need it, enabling *them* to pay their carers.

:-Caring for someone who could does not need it is a luxury, and should not receive government support - although if they choose to pay you, fine.
:-Caring for someone who needs it should be paid.
:-The person who pays should be the person who is being cared for.
:-People who need care should receive support from the government to enable them to pay for it (or for something else instead, if they prefer, arguably).

It should be the caree, not the carer, who the state pays. If they pay the carer is between the two of them.

If my parents end up needing care, I'd rather they were able to choose who to pay to care for them than that I had to do it and get paid, or else no-one would. If I end up needing care, I'd rather be in a position to choose who to pay to care for me than have the decision made for me.



Through all of which I've left the definition of "needs" intentionaly blank, because it's the difficult and controversial bit. I would go with something like "would not be able to manage a quality of life equal to the minimum quality of life I am prepared to risk ending up with if my life goes horribly wrong tomorrow", or something to that effect, but essentially it's a separate question - I think that the rest of what I've said holds true for any definition of "need" you use and can justify.