| By :
Molly Wider
Care giving to an aged loved one is something many of us will have to deal with at some point before our own retirement. A recent study has shown that many Canadian baby boomers are nearing retirement and are finding themselves in a position of taking care of an aged parent or relative and are doing so while still taking care of their own children which is having a detrimental financial impact. Statistics Canada confirms that 18.4 per cent of Canadians provide some level of unpaid care giving to an elderly senior while one-third of these baby boomers also provide some financial assistance to an aging parent or family member. Nineteen percent stated that care giving has an enormous impact on their financial status as they often incur out-of-pocket expenses for medical supplies, drugs and other items. Nine percent of these respondents to an Ipsos Reid poll on retirement trends said that their job and career paths have also been affected, suffering negative consequences. Even though the study showed that more women incur economic costs than men who care give, women caregivers were also more likely to quit their jobs, decline a promotion, reduce their work hours, change their work patterns and postpone educational opportunities, all resulting in a reduction in income. Eight percent of these caregivers said they had increased personal debt while six percent confessed to less RRSP contributions in order to keep up with the assistance they are providing. Nine percent said they may even have to delay retirement due to the costs associated with care giving. The Research on Aging Policies and Practises estimates that it would cost taxpayers about $6 billion a year to replace the care that is being provided by some 2.1 million Canadians who currently provide unpaid care to seniors. Although men are becoming more involved in senior care, 15.7 percent of Canadian men provided some level of unpaid elder care giving, which is up from 13.6 percent a decade ago, women caregivers still suffer greater financial impacts. One in seven women will reduce their work hours to accommodate care-giving duties, compared to one in ten men. Less than 10 per cent of those who were assisting aging family members have sought professional advice to help them budget and plan for the assistance they are providing. If you feel the financial pressure from care giving and are in need of extra money, a private loan could be of help. Even if you have bad credit, many private lending institutions specialize in bad credit loans and may be able to help you consolidate payments to make monthly bills easier to manage.
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