Working While Caring for an Adult Family Member Is Hard. And It’s Harder for Women.

The number of American workers who juggle a job and the care of an adult relative is large and growing. That’s not good. And it’s even worse when you factor in the downstream effects confronting these workers.

Clare Ansberry’s recent piece in The Wall Street Journal does a great job of highlighting the difficult position faced by workers who have older relatives in need of care. Some 29 million American workers — nearly 9% of the U.S. population — are working and caring for an adult family member, according to research conducted by AARP and National Alliance for Caregiving. Sixty percent of those 29 million are working full-time, up from 49% 15 years ago.

Clare’s story includes poignant personal stories to illustrate the challenges workers face trying to secure support or flexibility from their employers. Some feel as though they are working nonstop. Others change jobs or leave the workforce altogether.

What’s hidden behind the piece’s statistics and stories is the fact that these challenges often arrive at key junctures of the workers’ careers. They’re usually in their 40s, 50s or early 60s, having developed expertise and experience, in position to earn a promotion and a raise and accelerate their savings for retirement.

When their care responsibilities lessen or end, they can ramp back up. But the price they have paid professionally can be significant, whether it’s in earning potential and trajectory or in saving for retirement. Those who take a hiatus then face a job hunt in middle age — or later — in hopes of picking up where they left off. That’s incredibly difficult.

And let’s face it, these burdens and choices are faced disproportionally by working women, who typically bear a larger percentage of caregiving responsibilities. And many middle-aged women have already had their career paths interrupted once by caring for children.

Here’s the bottom line: Any adult who has to balance employment with caregiving for an older relative pays an economic penalty. But it’s more severe for women. And that makes it all the more urgent that we address this workplace crisis.