Supporting Families

The demands for, and costs of, family caregiving – both for young children and aging parents – create increasing financial and emotional stress for many families in Michigan. Of particular concern are grandfamilies and kinship families in which grandparents, other adult family members, or close family friends are raising children with no parents in the home, and families that are caring for older adults.

 

Facts about Grandfamilies & Kinship Care:

  • 185,926 children live in homes where a relative is head of household

  • 54,000 grandparents are responsible for their grandchildren

  • 54,000 children are being raised by kin with no parent present

  • 4675 children are in foster care being raised by kin

  • For more information visit the Michigan State Fact Sheet for Grandfamilies.

Program Examples

 

Facts about Caring for Older Adults:

  • Nearly 1.3 million Michiganders ─ more than 10 percent of the state population ─ serve as uncompensated caregivers for relatives, spending an estimated $7,000 a year apiece, according to AARP Michigan. (https://www.bridgemi.com/quality-life/overstressed-and-unpaid-13m-michigan-care-relatives-amid-aging-crisis

  • Almost 1 in 5 adults 45 years or older reported being a caregiver to a friend or family member. (CDC)

  • There are roughly one million informal caregivers in Michigan, and the estimated value of their annual caregiving is over $10 billion. (caregiver.org)

  • By 2030, those older than 75 will increase to 13.3 percent of Michigan’s population from 7.5 percent in 2020, according to state data. At the same time, national projections predict the pool of potential family caregivers to shrink from seven relatives per senior in 2015 to four in 2030, making it harder for older adults to stay in their homes.

Resources

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