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    Understanding Long-Term Care
                          What is Long-Term Care?
                                
                
        Long-Term Care Pathfinder
          
                                  Planning Ahead Before Age 50
                          Planning Ahead Between the Ages of 51 and 64
                          Planning Ahead After Age 65
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                                Who Needs Care?
                          How Much Care Will You Need?
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                          Finding Local Services
                          Who is in Charge? Radio PSAs The duration and level of long-term care will vary from person to person and often change over time. Here are some statistics (all are "on average") you should consider:
Someone turning age 65 today has almost a 70% chance of needing some type of long-term care services and supports in their remaining years
Women need care longer (3.7 years) than men (2.2 years)
One-third of today's 65 year-olds may never need long-term care support, but 20 percent will need it for longer than 5 yearsThe table below shows that, overall, more people use long-term care services at home (and for longer) than in facilities.
**Distribution and duration of long-term care services**
Type of care
Average number of years people use
			this type of care
Percent of people who use
			this type of care (%)*Any Services*
3 years
69At Home*Unpaid care only*
1 year
59*Paid care*
Less than 1 year
42*Any care at home*
2 years
65In Facilities*Nursing facilities*
1 year
35*Assisted living*
Less than 1 year
13*Any care in facilities*
1 year
37

                    *Last modified on 02/18/2020*
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