Which LTSS Caregiver Support Policies Are Preferred by Race/Ethnicity?

Marc A. Cohen and Christian E. Weller, University of Massachusetts Boston, Brandon G. Wilson, Community Catalyst, and Anqi Chen, Boston College

While family caregiving is the backbone of long-term services and supports (LTSS) care, particularly for underserved communities, it often comes at a financial cost for caregivers. Policymakers have introduced several proposals to ease this burden, but it is not clear which options the caregivers themselves would find most helpful. As LTSS becomes a growing need, SSA has an interest in understanding which policies could reduce the retirement security burdens for family caregivers and whether the effects differ by race/ethnicity.

This project will conduct focus-group interviews with a diverse contingent of LTSS family caregivers to understand which policies they believe would be most beneficial to their retirement security. The analysis will also use the National Health and Aging Trends Study, linked with the National Study of Caregivers, to examine the extent to which caregivers from different racial/ethnic groups could benefit more from certain policies.