Family Caregiver Statistics: The US Numbers, Sources and Dates
About 63 million US adults were family caregivers in 2025, up from 53 million in 2020, according to AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving. The table below lists the key figures with their source, publication date and the year the data describes.
Family caregiver statistics at a glance
Each figure below names its source and two dates: when the study was published, and the period its data describes. Studies count caregivers differently. "Caregiving in the U.S." counts adults who cared for an adult or a child with special needs in the prior 12 months; "Valuing the Invaluable" counts caregivers of adults at any one point in time, which is why its total is lower.
Key US family caregiver figures
Figure: Family caregivers · Value: About 63 million (24% of adults) · Who is counted: US adults caring for an adult or child with special needs, past 12 months · Source: AARP & NAC, Caregiving in the U.S. 2025 · Published: 2025 · Data year: 2024
Figure: Family caregivers, prior edition · Value: About 53 million (21% of adults) · Who is counted: Same definition as above · Source: AARP & NAC, Caregiving in the U.S. 2020 · Published: 2020 · Data year: 2019
Figure: Average hours of care · Value: 23.7 hours per week · Who is counted: Caregivers in the 2020 study · Source: AARP & NAC, Caregiving in the U.S. 2020 · Published: 2020 · Data year: 2019
Figure: Caregivers who are employed · Value: 61% · Who is counted: Caregivers in the 2020 study · Source: AARP & NAC, Caregiving in the U.S. 2020 · Published: 2020 · Data year: 2019
Figure: Caregivers in fair or poor health · Value: 21% · Who is counted: Caregivers in the 2020 study · Source: AARP & NAC, Caregiving in the U.S. 2020 · Published: 2020 · Data year: 2019
Figure: Economic value of unpaid care · Value: About $600 billion a year · Who is counted: About 38 million caregivers of adults at a point in time · Source: AARP, Valuing the Invaluable 2023 · Published: 2023 · Data year: 2021
Figure: Hours of unpaid care · Value: About 36 billion hours a year · Who is counted: Same population as above · Source: AARP, Valuing the Invaluable 2023 · Published: 2023 · Data year: 2021
What the numbers mean
The number of family caregivers rose by about 10 million between the 2020 and 2025 editions of the same study. The 2020 edition found the average caregiver giving close to 24 hours a week, and most were also working. AARP values that unpaid work at roughly $600 billion a year.
What actually causes burnout
Interviews and surveys point at the same thing repeatedly: it is not the tasks, it is the vigilance. The cognitive load of never being fully off duty — the phone that might ring, the call that goes unanswered, the drive across town to check — is what erodes people.
Long-distance caregivers report this most acutely. Without information, every silence is ambiguous, and ambiguity is answered with worry or a trip.
Reducing the load without reducing the care
Divide responsibilities explicitly among family members instead of defaulting to one person.
Use respite care; many states fund it through Area Agencies on Aging.
Replace check-in calls with passive information, so no news genuinely means nothing happened.
Keep a shared record of medications, appointments, and incidents that any family member can read.
Treat the caregiver's own medical appointments as non-negotiable.
Shared visibility
GuardianAngel AI supports multiple caregivers on one household with roles and escalation order, so the burden is distributed rather than concentrated on whoever answers first. Daily and weekly summaries replace the "are you okay?" call with something the whole family can see.
