By 2030, the entire Baby Boom generation will be older than 65 and older Americans will make up 21 percent of the population (up from 15 percent today).

More than 1 in 6 Americans working full-time or part-time report assisting with the care of an elderly or disabled family member, relative, or friend.

In the absence of a spouse, the care of a family member most often falls on the shoulders of a daughter or daughter-in-law.

Women on average spend 17 years of their lives caring for children and 18 years caring for elderly parents.

One study found that family caregivers lose an average of $659,000 over their lifetimes as a result of reductions in their salaries and retirement benefits.

In a 2012 study, more than 75 percent of caregivers reported that isolation was their number one source of stress.

In Hawaii, the 2017 Kapuna Caregivers program offers up to $70 a benefits to support those family caregivers who are also employed.

The annual median income for a home health aide or paid caregiver is $13,000 per year.

Home health aides do not have the right to a union, do not have protections under the Occupational Health and Safety Act, and those privately employed are excluded from overtime protections.

Supporting family caregivers is a global issue:

● In Australia, the value of unpaid caregivers’ contributions in time and labor is estimated at more than 1 billion Australian dollars per week.

● Across the European Union, 42 percent of non-working caregivers are in the lowest income bracket.

● More than 37 percent of French unpaid caregivers have increased their intake of prescription drugs or painkillers.

● In Italy, unpaid caregivers are entitled to as many as three days of fully-paid leave from their former jobs per month for up to two years.

● The German government provides subsidies to relieve unpaid caregivers through respite care and short-term care.

● In India, up to 97 percent of unpaid caregivers and their families live below the poverty line.