A University of Michigan study published on 20 October finds women's expected lifetime caregiving rose about a year since 2011. Men's barely changed.
A US woman can expect to spend 7.1 years of her life caring for an older relative or friend. A man can expect 4.2 years. The estimates come from a study published online on 20 October 2026 in The Journals of Gerontology: Series B.
Vicki Freedman and Yee To Ng of the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research led the work. They combined the National Study of Caregiving from 2011 and from 2021 to 2023 with Current Population Survey data. A demographic method then turned current caregiving rates into expected years over a lifetime, for adults aged 20 and over.
The gap widened for women
Women's expected caregiving was about one year higher in 2023 than in 2011. Men's figure was nearly identical across the two years. That leaves a gap of about three years.
Spouses share care about equally, at roughly 1.5 years each, according to a summary of the study published by News-Medical. The difference comes from care for parents, grandparents, wider family and friends. Women give more than one extra year of care to parents alone.
"The gap in lifetime family caregiving has not closed between men and women in recent years," Freedman said.
Rising demand
Family carers for US adults aged 65 and over numbered 18 million in 2011. The summary puts the figure at more than 24 million in recent years. The authors say the gender gap may widen as care needs grow and more older adults lack close kin.
These estimates cover the US alone. They assume today's age-specific caregiving rates hold over a person's life. The full discussion of the study's limits sits behind the journal's paywall.
A global pattern
Women make up 67% of the paid global health and care workforce. That figure comes from Fair share for health and care, a World Health Organization (WHO) report from March 2024. The same report says women perform an estimated 76% of all unpaid care activities.
How the issue is being addressed
WHO published Towards an integrated health and care workforce: policy options on 20 October 2026. That was the day the Michigan study appeared. The 33-page document covers both paid and unpaid care workers. It treats gender equality as a cross-cutting issue and names fair wages and social protection among its priorities.
In the US, the Administration for Community Living runs the National Family Caregiver Support Program. It funds training, counselling and respite care for family carers. A national strategy to support family carers lists nearly 350 near-term actions.
Freedman names the availability and affordability of paid care among the forces that will decide who provides care in future. Social norms about who gives support are another.
Header image: Anita Monteiro on Unsplash