Your job and the care

What the numbers actually say

The AARP and National Alliance for Caregiving 2025 report puts seven in ten family caregivers in work, and says many face disruption and have no supportive benefits, singling out 18 million hourly wage workers.^[1]

AARP's out-of-pocket research is where the cost shows up. Three-quarters of the caregivers surveyed reported spending an average of $7,242 a year on caregiving. Those with two or more work-related disruptions averaged $10,525, almost double caregivers with no or one disruption. Across the group, caregiving took about a quarter of annual income, and more than half of the spending went on housing.^[2] Reduced income and higher spending arrive in the same year, which is the part that catches people out.

On retirement, be careful with anyone's arithmetic, including ours. Cutting hours can affect employer retirement match, your Social Security earnings record, and the years when compounding does the most work. How much depends on your hours, your plan, your earnings history and the kind of leave you take. We found no source that quantifies it for a general reader, so we are not going to publish a number. Price your own case before you decide.

FMLA, including the parts most summaries skip

FMLA gives eligible employees up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period to care for a parent with a serious health condition, and it can be taken intermittently or on a reduced schedule when medically necessary — which is usually the caregiving-shaped version.^[3]

Eligibility is three tests, not one, and this is where people are caught out. All three have to be true:^[3]

• You have worked for a covered employer for at least 12 months. Covered private employers are those with 50 or more employees in 20 or more workweeks in the current or previous year. Public agencies and local educational agencies are covered regardless of size.
• You have at least 1,250 hours of service with that employer in the 12 months before the leave starts. That is roughly 24 hours a week, so part-time work can fail this test.
• You work at a location where the employer has at least 50 employees within 75 miles. A large company with a small remote office can fail this one.

Two definitions matter. FMLA's parent means a biological, adoptive, step or foster parent, or anyone who stood in loco parentis to you as a child — and it excludes parents-in-law. Spouse includes a same-sex or common-law marriage.^[3]

Military caregiver leave runs to 26 workweeks in a single 12-month period.^[3]

Before you cut hours or quit

This is a list to work through, not a recommendation. The decision is yours.

• Check whether FMLA applies to you against all three tests above, not the summary version.
• Ask your state. DOL says state laws may provide greater protections than FMLA, and some states run paid family leave.^[3] Whether yours does, whether care for a parent qualifies, what it pays and whether there is a waiting period are state questions. Ask the state labor department. We are not going to publish a list of states that would be out of date by the time you read it.
• Ask your employer what exists. Caregiver leave, employee assistance programs, flexible schedules and care-navigation services often go unused because nobody asked. Framing it as retention is fair: replacing you costs more than flexing you.
• Cover the work hours instead of leaving. An adult day program exists in part to keep a job in place. In-home help for the workday may cost less than the salary it protects. PACE, where it operates, combines day care and medical care.
• If stepping back is right anyway, price it fully. Salary, match, health insurance, your Social Security earnings record, and re-entry. Read getting paid as a caregiver first, because a properly documented arrangement can replace part of the income — and a badly documented one can cost the parent Medicaid eligibility.

Quick answers

How does caregiving affect careers and income?

The AARP and National Alliance for Caregiving 2025 report says seven in ten family caregivers are employed, and that many face disruptions and lack supportive benefits — 18 million of them are hourly wage workers. AARP's out-of-pocket research found caregivers with two or more work-related disruptions averaged $10,525 a year in caregiving expenses, almost double those with no or one disruption, against an average of $7,242 across three-quarters of those surveyed. Those are survey averages, not a forecast for your household. [1, 2]

Can I take leave from work to care for my parent?

FMLA gives eligible employees up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period to care for a parent with a serious health condition, and it can be taken intermittently or on a reduced schedule when medically necessary. Eligibility has three tests: 12 months with a covered employer, at least 1,250 hours of service in the previous 12 months, and a worksite with at least 50 employees within 75 miles. FMLA's definition of parent includes a step or foster parent and anyone who stood in loco parentis, but it excludes parents-in-law. [3]

Should I quit my job to care for my parent?

That is your decision, and nobody can price it for you. What is worth doing first is pricing the parts that are knowable: salary, employer retirement match, health coverage, your Social Security earnings record, and how hard re-entry would be. Then check what you have not used — FMLA, any state paid-leave program, employer benefits, an adult day program or paid help for work hours, and whether a caregiver contract could replace part of the income legitimately. DOL notes that state laws may give greater protections than FMLA, so your state labor department is the place to ask. [3]

Where to go next

• The costs nobody itemizes
• Caregiver contracts — getting paid legitimately
• Adult day programs
• Caregiver survival