When Tanya Brice’s mother moved into her apartment in Owings Mills, Md., five years ago, she was already caring for twin toddlers, one of whom has autism and an intellectual disability, and a teenage son. Brice, 43, is a single mom, and was supporting the household on a social worker’s salary. Her budget and schedule were stressed to the breaking point.
Her mother, Janice, was medically fragile — she had hepatitis C and diabetes — and Medicaid wouldn’t pay for a home health aid, so that came out of Brice’s pocket, along with the money for higher electricity bills from her mother’s ventilator, and the extra food and necessities her mother needed.
On average, survey respondents who are caring for both children and older relatives estimate that they have lost more than $10,000 because they had to do things like reduce their working hours, increase their expenses or leave a job entirely as a result of these responsibilities.
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