2023's Demographics of Caregiving in Michigan

What are the demographics of caregivers in Michigan? How many are there? And who are the majority of caregivers in Michigan, in terms of gender, race, and socio-economic differences?

According to several sources, including a 2017 cdc.gov report, a 2021 CHRT Michigan caregiver needs support report, and a 2018 caringacross.org Michigan Care Report Card...

1 in 5 Michigan adults are caregivers.

That's about 2 million MIchigander caregivers. Roughly 1,800,000 Michigander adults provide unpaid care to another adult.

Gender

• 54% are women
• 46% are men
• History and society expect women to provide care, especially in a home setting, but in 2023, the difference in term of Michigan's status of adult caregiving isn't as start as you'd think.

Age

• 1 in 5 are 65 years old or older
• 4 in 5 are younger than 65 years
• 2 in 5 are younger than 55 years
• The older you become, the more likely you'll become either a caregiver or a care recipient. Michigan is a wonderful place to grow old don't you think. But there are several aspects of elder care we can improve.

Color

• 3 in 5 identify as white
• 2 in 5 identify as people of color (BIPOC)
• Considering 4 of 5 people in Michigan are white, this statistic demonstrates how non-White Michiganders are more likely to become caregivers than white Michiganders.

Relationship

• 4 of 10 are caregivers to a parent.
• 2 of 10 are caregivers to a spouse.
• The rest are caregivers to grandparents, grandchildren, siblings, other relatives, or non-relatives.

Location

• 4 of 10 live in Southeast Michigan
• 2 in 10 live in East Michigan
• 2 in 10 live in West Michigan
• 1 in 10 live in South Michigan
• 1 in 10 live in North Michigan
• While rural caregivers represent the majority, a high density of caregivers live in Michigan's urban areas.

Quality of Care

• Scored 5 out of 10 for Care Recipient Quality of Care
• Scored 5 out of 10 for Family Caregiver Quality of Care
• Scored 3 out of 10 for Direct Care Workforce
• If Michigan's elder care ecosystem were graded on the same scale as grade school children, we'd get F's accross the board.

Type of Care

• ‍1 in 10 (200,000 Michiganders) care for someone with dementia
• 5 in 10 are employed while caregiving at home.
• The unpaid caregiving across millions of Michigan homes represents $470 billion dollars annually, for which the healthcare and welfare system is thrilled to evade responsibility.