After hours devoted to care, Christie, below, attends to household tasks. For nearly a decade LeNoir Christie has not danced at family weddings. Christie came to her parents' Sunrise home for a short visit 11 years ago while her mother spent a few days in the hospital. Across the country, there is a growing tide of adult children putting aside their own lives to help extend those of their parents. Md. About 42 percent of caregivers are adult children.
Spouses account for another one quarter.
Seventy-two percent of all caregivers are female. The caregivers in the survey provided, on average, eight years of care. Md. Sixty-one percent of family members who provide at least 21 hours of care a week suffer from depression. In the next 50 years, as more people live longer, the problem will become only more acute, elder advocates say. A federal report released last week predicts that by the year 2030, the number of older Americans will double to about 70 million.