Eldercare in 2011

In 2011, 16 percent of the U.S. civilian noninstitutional population age 15 and over were eldercare providers. Eldercare can involve a range of care activities, such as assisting with grooming, preparing meals, and providing transportation. Eldercare also can involve providing companionship or being available to assist when help is needed.

[Chart data]

Of the 39.8 million eldercare providers in the civilian noninstitutional population, 42 percent cared for a parent and 25 percent cared for an unrelated person.

In 2011, just over half of the time spent on eldercare activities for those aged 65 and over was associated with leisure (32 percent) and household activities (23 percent).

[Chart data]

Caring for and helping nonhousehold members accounted for 10 percent of the total time spent on eldercare activities in 2011.

These data are from the American Time Use Survey. To learn more, see "American Time Use Survey — 2011 Results" (HTML) (PDF), news release USDL-12-1246.