I don’t need a study to tell me that leaving the workforce to become a family caregiver has cost me, financially. All I have to do is look my puny projected Social Security. Over two decades of my adult “productive” years have been spent caring for elders and children while not working at paid employment. Eventually, I did go back into the workforce, even though I was still a primary caregiver for three elders and one young adult with health issues. While I certainly was aware that I wouldn’t get any Social Security or retirement benefits for the years outside the traditional workforce, I also knew that our family didn’t have the money to pay agencies to do what I did for my loved ones.

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