One in four Americans – that’s 63 million adults – are serving as caregivers to family members, according to a 2025 report from the AARP.
The study defines caregivers as family members who provide support for daily life to their adult family member and/or a medically complex child. Caregiving can include anything from medical care, such as helping to manage medical equipment or medication, to helping with daily needs like cooking, showering, laundry, and making it to appointments. For many caregivers, it's all of the above.
In his Angelus message on July 13, Pope Leo XIV reminds us,
“In order to live eternally, we do not need to cheat death, but to serve life, by caring for others in this, our time together. That is the supreme law that is prior to all society’s rules and gives them their meaning.”
He goes on to say that caregiving is a high calling: “Imitating the example of Jesus, the Savior of the world, we too are called to bring consolation and hope, above all to those who are experiencing discouragement and disappointment.”
Toll of caregiving
It may be a high calling and it is, of course, a part of being a family since time immemorial. But as all caregivers know, caring for a loved one comes with challenges.
According to the study, 30% of caregivers are providing assistance to their family members for five or more years, which it says is a “significant increase from 2020.”
The average amount of time spent giving care is 27 hours per week with 24% of caregivers providing 40 hours or more per week of needed aid.
Seven out of 10 working-age caregivers are employed and need to balance caregiving with the demands of their job. There are financial ramifications – ”one-third of caregivers have stopped saving money, and 24 percent have used up short-term savings. Others report taking on more debt, delaying retirement, or even facing housing instability.”
In addition, many caregivers report an impact on their physical and/or emotional health.
Purpose and responsibility
“Despite this,” there is resilience and meaning in caregiving. More than half of caregivers say that their role gives them "a sense of purpose.”
Pope Leo reminded that caregiving isn’t meant to be something done alone. On the World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly in July, he said,
Every parish, association, and ecclesial group is called to become a protagonist in a ‘revolution of gratitude and care’ — to be carried out by regular visits to the elderly, the creation of networks of support and prayer for them and with them, and the forging of relationships that can restore hope and dignity to those who feel forgotten.
A 2020 letter from the Congregation (now Dicastery) for the Doctrine of the Faith, Samaritanus bonus, says that caring for others like the Good Samaritan shows to others “unconditional love of God.”
It explains,
“Weakness makes us conscious of our dependence on God and invites us to respond with the respect due to our neighbor. Every individual who cares for the sick (physician, nurse, relative, volunteer, pastor) has the moral responsibility to apprehend the fundamental and inalienable good that is the human person.”
