For the first time, U.S. Census projections show that Americans over the age of 65 will outnumber those 18 and younger within a decade. On top of that, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services, about 70% of older Americans will need some kind of longterm service or support. That need will not be experienced equally; financially burdened Americans typically experience longer stretches of need for paid care than their wealthier counterparts.
Meanwhile, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and others, a shortage of childcare continues to limit parents across the nation. In last year’s State of Women in Central Indiana Report (SOWR), we learned that Shelby and Hancock counties cannot cover even 50% of their need for licensed childcare.
For residents young and old, any time access to care falls short, informal caregivers fill the gap. Many are unpaid family or friends, providing care to an extent that, while sometimes rewarding and fulfilling, may limit their social, professional, economic and even physiological wellbeing.
What challenges do these caregivers face? What do they need to thrive? How does it benefit the broader community for us to support caregivers?
To answer these and other questions, we turned to the SOWR and spoke with several Women’s Fund/CICF grantees who serve caregivers and their loved ones.
Who is a Caregiver?
The SOWR defines a caregiver as anyone providing care—freely or professionally—for those who cannot fully care for themselves due to age, illness, or disability. Caregivers are parents, grandparents, grown children, spouses and passionate professionals like the women we spoke to.
The Family Caregiver Alliance estimates that three out of five caregivers in America are women. In Indiana, about a quarter of these women provide care for someone with an illness or disability. And while many men operate as sole caregivers, on average, Hoosier women spend twice as much time each day as do men caring for someone else.
“Women will put everybody before themselves,” said Janet Mackins, Founder/CEO of Silver Citizens Inc., a non-profit organization providing social wellness programming for elders and caregivers at locations throughout Marion County.
Our program has helped some women to change that mindset, to learn how to love themselves. Some have cared for others for so long, they just didn’t even think of loving themselves. This idea can be eye-opening. Once you feel good about yourself, and doing for you, it’s so much easier to give to someone else.”
Caregiving often makes different demands at different ages. Women between 30 and 50 may care for older children as well as their aging parents; women over 45 are most likely to care for someone with complex needs, such as dementia (SOWR).
For many women, though, their experience as a caregiver begins in motherhood before turning 30.
Healthy Parents, Healthy Children
Originally, New Beginnings in Indy’s Haughville neighborhood focused only on daycare for children. But in a zip code where 22% of adults have no high school degree, where per capita income is only half the metro’s average, and where more than a quarter of children live at or below the poverty line, the organization’s director Evelyn Evans decided to expand services.
“Five years ago, we realized that daycare was not enough,” she said. “With some of the challenges we see in our families, you have to include services for parents.”
Those expanded services created the most lasting and positive impact for parents and children who encounter significant socioeconomic barriers.
“Most commonly, it’s housing instability, job instability, legal challenges and little access to convenient transportation. If a parent is going through these issues, all of that will supersede a child’s education. So, when they drop the kids off, they aren’t asking me what their child will learn. They want to make sure their kid will eat or be able to take a nap—the basics.”
100% of the parents with children enrolled at New Beginnings qualify for government vouchers from Indiana’s Family and Social Services Agency.
In the past, applying for and receiving these vouchers would take one or two months. But in December 2024, the FSSA said all new applicants would instead go onto a waitlist, citing increased demand as well as policy changes instituted by the Indiana General Assembly earlier that year.
That change will challenge lower-income Hoosier communities. Parents like the ones served at New Beginnings need childcare if they hope to work a job. A 2022 Women’s Fund grant to New Beginnings helped parents bridge gaps while waiting for voucher funding. But unless resources are opened up at the state or federal level, more will be needed.
While children stay at daycare or after-school care, parents enrolled in New Beginnings’ Parenting Academy receive services that allow them to search for and obtain housing, a job or educational credentials.
In many cases, intervention from New Beginnings has redirected a household’s trajectory.
“One of our mothers was living in a shelter, unemployed and with their driver’s license suspended,” Evelyn said. Alongside this, their child was failing at school.
After four years of engagement with New Beginnings, the family is now housed, Mom has her high school diploma, an information technology certification, and a job paying $18.50 an hour. Her child’s grades went from F’s to C’s.
“Plus, she successfully completed a driver’s license renewal program through the prosecutor’s office,” Evelyn said. “That’s important because now she doesn’t live in fear of being pulled over and having to start back at square one. She can still drop her child off, get to her job or any appointments without completely relying on public transportation.”
Caring for Caregivers
Tina McIntosh is president and founder at Joy’s House, a nonprofit adult daycare serving families who live with life-altering diagnoses. She insists the two main things caregivers need are knowledge and empowerment, especially those working in elder care.
“We aren’t great as a society at preparing for these stages of life—whether it’s our own aging process or caring for someone special in our lives who experiences a life-altering diagnosis. We don’t like to think about it, but when it happens, people need to know where to turn.”
For various reasons, whether financial or emotional, family caregivers often delay reaching out to a caregiving facility. When they do, it is often because the demands have become overwhelming.
“They just can’t do it anymore,” Tina said. “They often need coaching that lets them know that it’s okay to get help and support, whether from us or others.”
According to the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, about 60% of all family caregivers report elevated levels of stress, with 40% reporting issues related to anxiety or depression.
“Caregiving can be incredibly beautiful,” Tina said. “This time together can heal old wounds and revive relationships. It can also be incredibly difficult, no matter your relationships, experiences, or even your income.”
Last year, to help more caregivers find the answers they need, Joy’s House unveiled Caregiver Way, an online resource and social hub. (Find it at visitcaregiverway.com)
Caregiver Way offers videos and articles about caring for oneself as a caregiver, tips on medication and medical equipment, legal concerns, what to do when a loved one passes and much more.
“Even as a caregiver myself, I’ve turned to this site for guidance,” Tina said.
It is also a quickly growing social hub where caregivers can teach, learn from, and share with one another.
Tina also co-hosts Caregiver Crossing, a weekly radio show and podcast from WIBC that speaks to experts and takes calls about the caregiver experience.
“We aren’t great at the ‘How am I doing’ part of being a caregiver,” Tina said. “The truth is, caregivers often die or get chronically ill before their loved one. And studies show that it has a lot to do with the stress.”
Tina pointed to research showing three primary needs every caregiver requires: “Good healthcare for themselves, eight consecutive— and it must be consecutive—hours of respite and, finally, community.”
Janet Mackins at Silver Citizens agrees that stress and mood play a huge role in successful caregiving. At her program, she focuses on selfaffirmation, both for elders and their caregivers.
“Mood is so important for populations that can fall victim to social isolation. At Silver Citizens, we get people in a room and focus on positivity together, as a group. Positive affirmations, like ‘I love myself, I will be kind to myself.’”
For many she serves, this act alone is enough to lift spirits.
“Your own words are so powerful,” she said. “Everything starts with how you think and what you speak.”
The Bottom Line
Undergirding each of our conversations is new government policy impacting childcare, healthcare and public services. In an attempt to cut spending, we risk undermining a critical support system with respect to our paid and unpaid caregivers.
According to the SOWR, Hoosier caregivers of every kind contribute a combined $10.8 billion worth of unpaid labor. “This figure is derived from the collective 740 million hours of care provided, valued at an average hourly wage of $14.61.”
Nationally, the wage value of unpaid caregiving is an estimated $600 billion.
In many cases, some form of assistance is necessary to provide that care. Yet, even with this funding, stress and anxiety among caregivers is a recognized public health crisis.
Investing in more resources for caregivers— whether parents, grown children or professionals—will be essential to ensure both they and those they support will receive the care that helps our community thrive.
This article was published within the August 2025 issue of the Women’s Fund’s Diane magazine.
