Lifespan caregiving profiles in the United States

Providing unpaid care to family or friends with health limitations has become an increasingly common, recurring, and prolonged part of adult life, yet most studies continue to examine it as a discrete, short-term, and one-time role. This study moves beyond that view by identifying caregiving patterns accumulated across the lifespan in the United States. It further examines how gender, race-ethnicity, and early-life socioeconomic status shape membership in these caregiving profiles.

Data come from 3,194 respondents aged 50 and older in the 2017 and 2019 Life History Mail Survey, a supplement to the nationally representative Health and Retirement Study. Using latent class analysis, we identified distinct caregiving profiles based on four indicators: age at first caregiving onset, number of caregiving episodes, total caregiving years, and overlapping caregiving. Multinomial logistic regression was used to assess sociodemographic predictors of profile membership.

Four distinct profiles emerged: Compressed (50%; a single, short-term episode later in life), Early Enduring (22%; early onset with sustained involvement), Recurrent (17%; multiple sequential episodes), and Immersed (11%; prolonged and often overlapping caregiving). Women were disproportionately represented in the Recurrent and Immersed profiles, whereas men were more likely to be Compressed caregivers. Race-ethnicity and early-life socioeconomic status were not significant predictors.

Lifespan caregiving patterns in the United States are far from uniform. As demands on family caregivers continue to grow, identifying lifespan caregiving profiles offers a foundation for tailoring support to caregivers' diverse experiences.