For far too long, the enormous efforts of family caregivers have been underappreciated and insufficiently addressed
As seen in The Chicago Sun-Times Letters to the Editor
Thursday, January 09, 2025
Amy Yee’s recent story about the challenges of family caregiving in Illinois sheds important light on a critical issue: the struggle and dedication of family caregivers in our rapidly aging society. By focusing on the real-life stories of two of the 1.5 million caregivers in Illinois, Ms. Yee gives voice to an estimated 48 million caregivers navigating their way through similar experiences nationwide. Unpaid caregivers are often family members, close friends or “chosen family.” According to the Illinois Department on Aging, “Caregivers…come from every age, gender, socioeconomic, and racial/ethnic group. Nearly 24 percent are millennials; 40 percent are men and approximately 40 percent represent multicultural communities.”
For far too long, the enormous efforts of family caregivers have been underappreciated and insufficiently addressed outside of the field of aging, as have the myriad of workforce complexities and financial hardships they face. Fortunately, this is starting to change — especially here in Illinois.
In addition to the new Illinois law highlighted in Ms. Yee’s piece (which bars employers from discriminating against caregivers), an important Illinois policy advance in 2024 was the executive order signed by Gov. JB Pritzker to establish a Multi-Sector Plan for Aging. This cross-cutting effort will outline a comprehensive framework for addressing the needs of older adults, disabled people of all ages and their caregivers over the next decade.
As our society ages, caregiving is becoming a universal experience. It should be treated as a communal challenge and shared opportunity, to be met with appropriate policies, practical programs and accessible resources. As the late Rosalynn Carter so eloquently said: “There are only four kinds of people in the world: those who have been caregivers, those who are currently caregivers, those who will be caregivers, and those who will need caregivers.”
Mary O’Donnell is CEO of RRF Foundation for Aging, which is based in Chicago.
