Eldercare Costs Are Forcing Families to Rethink Work, Savings, and Home Life

Business Insider reports that long-term care is becoming more expensive across nursing homes, assisted living, and at-home care. Families described draining savings, providing unpaid labor, and staying in the workforce longer to support aging relatives. The financial pressure is not limited to one generation; adult children, spouses, and older caregivers are all absorbing the strain.

The report cites multiple drivers behind higher eldercare costs, including insurance premiums, transportation costs, caregiver wages, the pandemic-era loss of care workers, and immigration crackdowns. Nursing-home prices have increased by 212% since 1997, according to the article. At-home care can also create sticker shock: families described caregiver costs around $30 an hour for 40 hours a week, or more than $60,000 a year.

The families profiled used different strategies to keep relatives safe and cared for. Kim Berling and her husband help pay for her mother-in-law’s care, with total expenses reaching $11,000 a month. Linda Barton and her husband purchased and renovated two tiny homes in their yard for three aging parents, while Erin Dentmon’s family combined extensive unpaid care with paid support that cost upward of $16,000 a month.

The reporting shows that caregiving often reshapes careers and retirement plans. Carla Romagnano moved her mother into her home after a dementia diagnosis and major fall, hired home care, and said she cannot retire yet. For readers, the practical takeaway is clear: long-term care planning is not just a medical issue, but a household finance, housing, work, and family-capacity issue.