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:: Choices - End-of-life Care :: African American Caregivers :: Asian American Caregivers

ASIAN AMERICAN CAREGIVERS: A PROFILE

The profile of Asian-American caregivers varies from the national caregiver profile in areas of average age, share of caring, education, household income, family profile and the care recipients. The distinctions made below are based on the data from the National Alliance for Caregiving's "Family Caregiving in the US" national survey published in 1997.

Asian-American caregivers are both men (48%) and women (52%). This is a significant difference from the national average where 72.5% of informal caregivers are women. The national average age of caregivers is 46, however, Asian-American caregivers tend to be younger (mean age of 39.1 years). Sixty-two percent of the Asian caregivers interviewed had post secondary school education; are employed full or part time, (77% vs 65% for other groups); and 61% have a household income of more than $30,000 (median household income $45K vs $35K).

Asian-American caregivers tend to live in the same home with the care recipients (35% vs 19% of white caregivers), and 51.1% have one or more children under age 18 living in the household. This may explain why 61% of caregivers feel that other family members, especially daughters-in-law (11%), are sharing in the caring process and why they feel caregiving does not compromise their family relationships.

Asian-American caregivers tend to receive less instruction on how to perform caregiving tasks and spend an average of 15.1 hours per week providing care compared to other groups who spend over 18 hours. However, it could be argued that other family member's contributions to care may not have been measured and reflected in the weekly statistics nor their financial ability to purchase formal services. Asians report spending an average of 13% of their income as out-of-pocket caregiving expenses. Nationally, 61% of caregivers with household incomes over $50,000 arrange, purchase and supervise some professional services.

One source that these caregivers look to for finding professional services is " The Caregiver Sourcebook". It provides them with answers on how to manage the responsibilities of providing care and a resource directory of programs, services and products to help busy caregivers connect with professional caregivers in their community.