As Lynn Friss Feinberg from the AARP Public Policy Institute reminds us at the beginning of the video below: “There are 40 million family caregivers in the US caring for an older adult or person with disabilities.” The economic value of these unpaid contributions amounts to approximately $470 billion. That means there are 40 million of us who know firsthand the challenges of balancing jobs, family, and school, and the unpaid labor of love which is family caregiving. As you can imagine, these challenges are even greater for low-income families.

Our new report, Advocacy Starts at Home: Strengthening Supports for Low-Income Older Adults and Family Caregivers, draws the connection between fighting senior poverty, supporting caregivers, and strengthening the programs and services that support older adults. In the paper, we identify solutions that will benefit everyone, while providing poor families with the basic support system they need to ensure that older adults in their families can age at home in dignity.

Watch this video for a small window into the struggles of family caregiving through the story of Sadie and her daughter Margaret, and read our report to learn more about actionable solutions to help families like theirs.