older carers Dr Lukas Hofsttter Grace Cherrington Acknowledgment - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

The financial wellbeing of

• lder carers

Dr Lukas Hofstätter Grace Cherrington

Acknowledgment of Country

I would like to acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of this Land. I would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present and extend that respect to other Aboriginal people here today.

About Carers NSW

• Provide care and support to a family member
• r friend who has a disability, mental illness,

drug and/or alcohol dependency, chronic condition, terminal illness or who is frail.

• This definition does not include:
• paid care workers
• formal volunteers
• parents / foster carers / kinship carers
• 2.65 million carers in Australia, including

approximately 861,600 primary carers (ABS 2019).

Who are carers?

• 16% of the Australian population aged 65 or older (ABS 2019a)
• Persons aged 65 years or more, living in households, who received

assistance in 2018: 1.21 million

• Total cost of aged care services to Australian governments: $18.39

billion (Productivity Commission 2019: 14.3)

• Of care recipients over 65, 1.8% received only formal care, 36.6% only

informal care, 62.5% both (ABS 2019) “…the current aged care system is not able to deal with the level of unmet need for home care services and the demographic pressures behind it […] it has placed terrible pressure on informal carers” (Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety 2019: 162)

Ageing society: Demand for care

Ageing and caring

Ageing Society: Provision of care

Ageing and caring

2,538 2,629 2,695 2,699 2,645.6 17.8% 19.8% 21.5% 23.0% 24.5% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

500 1000 1500 2000 2500 2003 2009 2012 2015 2018

An increasing number and proportion of carers are aged 65+ (ABS 2019)

Carers 65+ (Thsd.) Total carers (Thsd.) Carers 65+ in % of total carers

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% Younger than 15 15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65-74 75 and

• lder

Carers per age cohort and gender (ABS 2019)

% overall % of women % of men

• An estimated 647,200 carers and 238,500 primary carers are

aged 65 or older

• 50.7% of carers aged 65+ and 60% of primary carers aged 65+

are women

• Primary carers aged 65 or older provide on average 21.6 hours
• f care per week, and
• Provided in 2019 an estimated 309.5 million hours of care (out
• f 1.234 billion hours provided by all carers) (ABS 20191)
• Estimated replacement costs of care provided by carers aged

65+ (2020): $18.7 billion, 1.3% of GDP (calculated following Deloitte Access Economics 2020)

1categorially averaged hours of care provided

Carers aged 65+

Ageing and caring

• Duration of provision of care (ABS 2019):
• Relationship to recipient of care (ABS 2019):

Primary carers aged 65+

Ageing and caring

Less than

• ne year

1-4 years 5-9 years 10-14 years 15-19 years 20 years or more 3% 31% 22% 17% 10% 19% Spouse/ Partner Parent Child Friend/ Neighbour Sibling Other relative 75% 10% 9% 2% 1% 1%

Age 15-64:

• Primary carer: $ 599 (m), $ 620 (f)
• Non-carer: $ 1,151 (m), $ 825 (f)

Age 65+:

• Primary carer: $ 423 (m), $ 400 (f)
• Non-carer: $ 485 (m), $ 451 (f)

Age 15-64:

• Primary carer: 58.4% (m), 58.9% (f)
• Non-carer: 85.4% (m), 75.9% (f)

Age 65+:

• Primary carer: 17.0% (m), 11.8% (f)
• Non-carer: 21.8% (m), 11.1% (f)

Median weekly income (ABS 2019)

Income

Labour force participation

500 1000 1500 Male 15-64 Male 65+

Income gap, median weekly income, men

Carers Non carers 500 1000 Female 15-64 Female 65+

Income gap, median weekly income, women

Carers Non carers

13% 48% 25% 11%

Source of income, age 65+ (ABS 2019)

Income

Government pension or allowance, 67.3% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Wages or salary (including from

• wn incorporated business)

Government pension or allowance Superannuation, an annuity or private pension Rental property Unincorporated business or share in a partnership Dividends and/or interest Other source of income

Main Source of Income, Population 65+

Primary Carer Total Not a carer Total

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Wages or salary (including from

• wn incorporated business)

Government pension or allowance Superannuation, an annuity or private pension Rental property Unincorporated business or share in a partnership Dividends and/or interest Other source of income

Main Source of Income, Primary Carers 65+

Primary Carer Male Primary Carer Female

Experiences of financial stress in past year (Carers NSW 2020)

Financial Wellbeing

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% Unable to raise $2,000 in a week for something important Could not pay rent or mortgage payments on time Spend more money than you received in a month Could not pay gas, electricity, water, or telephone bill on… Could not pay registration or insurance on time Pawned or sold something Went without meals Unable to heat or cool home Sought assistance from welfare/community organisations Sought financial help from friends or family None of the above

Younger than 65 65 and older

N=5506

Experiences of financial stress in past year, carers 65+ (Carers NSW 2020)

Financial Wellbeing

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% Unable to raise $2,000 in a week for something important Could not pay rent or mortgage payments on time Spend more money than you received in a month Could not pay gas, electricity, water, or telephone bill… Could not pay registration or insurance on time Pawned or sold something Went without meals Unable to heat or cool home Sought assistance from welfare/community organisations Sought financial help from friends or family None of the above

Started caring after retirement Started caring before retirement

N=1657

Carers 65+, average score on the Personal Wellbeing Index

Wellbeing and financial stress (Carers NSW 2020)

Health and Wellbeing

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90%

No experience of financial stress in p12m One financial stress experience in p12m Two financial stress experiences in p12m Three financial stress experiences in p12m Four or more financial stress experiences in p12m Average for Carers 65+ Average for Australians 65+

Correlation of PWI with number of experiences of financial stress: r = -.242, p = < .001 (n=540)

Carers 65+, % of carers under high

• r very high psychological distress

Health and financial stress (Carers NSW 2020)

Health and Wellbeing

No experience of financial stress: 31.3% One experience

• f financial

stress: 37.8%

Two experiences of financial stress: 47.1%

Three experiences of financial stress: 54.2%

Four or more experiences of financial stress: 70%

N=1,551 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% No experience of financial stress One financial stress experience Two financial stress experiences Three financial stress experiences Four or more financial stress experiences All Carers 65+

Carers 65+, average satisfaction with health

N=2,535

Financial contribution of Carers 65+ to costs of care (Carers NSW 2020)

Financial Wellbeing

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% Carer paid for medicine Carer paid for support services Carer paid for transport Carer paid for insurance Carer paid for housing Carer paid for housing modifications Carer paid for special training Carer paid for health services and equipment Carer paid for none of the above N=1717

• Carers aged 65+ provide approx. 25% of informal care, a significant

economic contribution

• Most provide long-term, ongoing care, 46% for 10 years or more,
• Disadvantage for carers accumulates over the life course in gender-

specific ways

• Financial distress has an significant impact on health and wellbeing of
• lder carers
• Their health, wellbeing, psychological, and financial distress are worse

compared to non-carers, but better compared to younger carers

• Carers aged 65+ are more dependent than average on the government

pension, but receiving it represents an improvement for many Financial security is essential for sustaining caring roles

Conclusion

Financial Wellbeing of Older Carers

Report available under:

carersnsw.org.au/research

Carers NSW 2020 National Carer Survey

• Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2019: Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers, 2018.

TableBuilder dataset. www.abs.gov.au, Australian Government, Canberra.

• Carers NSW, 2020: Carers NSW 2020 National Carer Survey, unpublished data. Carers

NSW, Sydney.

• Deloitte Access Economics, 2020: The Economic Value of Informal Care in Australia in 2020.

Report for Carers Australia, Canberra.

• Khor, S., Fuller-Tysziewicz, M., & Hutchinson, D. (2020). Australian normative data. In:
• International Wellbeing Group, Personal Wellbeing Index Manual (6th ed., Ch. xx, pp. xx).

Cummins, R. A. (Ed). Australian Centre on Quality of Life, Deakin University. Melbourne. Retrieved from: http://www.acqol.com.au/development/publications#Open-access.

• Productivity Commission, 2019: Report on Government Services. Chapter 14: Aged Care.

https://www.pc.gov.au/research/ongoing/report-on-government-services, Australian Government, Canberra.

• Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, 2019: Interim Report: Neglect.

Australian Government, Canberra.

Sources

Ageing and Caring

www.carersnsw.org.au

Lukas Hofstätter, Research and Development Officer Grace Cherrington, Policy and Carer Representation Officer research@carersnsw.org.au