Families would rather talk to their kids about the facts of life than talk with their parents about the facts of aging, according to a new survey.
Over half of families are not just failing to budget for senior care, they’re refusing to even talk about it, according to a recent survey from online family care hub Care.com.
Among the survey's 500 respondents, 52 percent haven’t discussed senior care issues with their parents—54 percent said they would rather have the “sex talk” with their children than broach the subject of aging with their parents.
A similar proportion of respondents, 55 percent, told surveyors that they were waiting until there’s an immediate need before discussing senior care issues with their aging loved ones.
Almost two-thirds of the survey’s respondents are not budgeting or saving for their own or their partner’s senior care. Among baby boomers, 53 percent said they aren’t budgeting for their own care in old age.
More than two-thirds of the respondents, 67 percent, said they anticipated that maximum costs for full-time care in a nursing home would be under $80,000, with 26 percent of respondents guessing that care costs less than half of the national average of $82,125 per year.
“Raising awareness of the true costs of senior care is imperative for the financial health of families,” said Jody Gastfriend, vice president of senior care at Care.com, in a released statement. “In addition to underestimating the cost of senior care, the majority of families responding to our 2015 Cost of Care Survey also underestimate the cost of child care (63 percent). When you add in saving for retirement, the financial impact can be profound.”
Respondents also underestimated the cost of non-medical home care, with 57 percent estimating an annual cost of $40,000 or less, compared with the actual national annualized average cost of more than $45,000 a year.
Yet nearly one-third of the respondents, 29 percent, are already financially supporting a parent or aging loved one, and almost 20 percent consider themselves a senior care provider,
Elder care issues are weighing on the respondents’ ability to work and thrive: 36 percent have asked for time off or workplace flexibility to accommodate for senior care, 36 percent say worrying about their aging loved ones has affected their work performance and 34 percent have had to make work adjustments as a result of caring for aging loved ones.