Roughly 1 in 4 Americans now identifies as a family caregiver. That share has risen dramatically over the past decade. With more people needing care and limited options for affordable long-term care services in the United States, caregivers are strained—often mentally and financially. On today’s show, Debra Whitman, chief public policy officer of AARP, joins Kimberly to unpack how this “invisible workforce” fits into the broader economy and how we can make caregiving more sustainable for families.

Here’s everything we talked about today:

"Caregiving in the US 2025" from AARP
"The number of “sandwich generation” caregivers is growing" from Marketplace
"If Americans Were Paid For Their Caregiving, They Would Make More Than $1.1 Trillion" from the National Partnership for Women and Families
"Returning to the Workforce After Being a Caregiver" from Harvard Business Review
"Invisible crisis: America’s caregivers and the $600 billion unpaid cost of their labor" from ABC News
"Caregiving in the US 2025: Caring Across States" from AARP

We love hearing from you. Leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART or email makemesmart@marketplace.org.

The "invisible workforce" of family caregivers

Make Me Smart