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Working Mom Exodus 2025 | Part 6: The Edercare Crisis

We’ve got an eldercare crisis on our hands; the silver tsunami is here.

75% of family caregivers are women—and it’s daughters carrying the burden. They lose $300,000 on average in lifetime earnings.

This one is deeply personal. My mom came into my care with Alzheimer’s overnight during the 2021 snowpocalypse. It was the pandemic, my kids were middle school remote learners, and I was 46.

The average caregiver is a 49-year-old woman ✔️ who works outside the home ✔️caring for her single mother. ✔️ I can check every box on that one.

Family caregivers of dementia patients provide 21.9 hours of care per week—a second job on top of your full-time job. Alzheimer’s caregivers provide 1-4 years MORE care than other illnesses, often 5+ years.

I’m nearing five years this February, and here’s what I’ve learned:

Without accessible eldercare support, your day can turn on a moment’s notice. And it’s a much harder, colder push than even the motherhood penalty.

In Episode 57, you’ll DISCOVER:

• ✔️ The sobering eldercare statistics (I check every box)
• ✔️ Why federal support falls pitifully short
• ✔️ What employers are doing—and where they’re failing
• ✔️ 5 strategies sandwich generation caregivers are using to survive
• ✔️ How job sharing lets dual caregivers keep senior jobs
• ✔️ My truth: How job sharing skills saved me when diagnosis came

There’s a Rosalynn Carter Quote I Think About Often

There are only four kinds of people in the world: those who have been caregivers, those who are currently caregivers, those who will be caregivers, and those who will need caregivers.

This will touch all of us in some way. The sandwich generation is growing—panini’d with dual caregiving—and the workplace needs to catch up.

How Job Sharing Changes Everything

You can keep your demanding career and care for aging parents—with your partner to hand over your work baton every week so you can schedule doctor appointments and take care of all the care things required.

For the employee: Reduced hours without derailing your career. Shared cognitive load with a partner. Dedicated time off for caregiving needs and personal rest.

For the employer: Retain highly skilled, experienced professionals who would otherwise leave. Higher productivity from two engaged employees vs. one burnt out. Built-in coverage and continuity.

One gender is not more suited to provide care than another—it’s about damn time we unsocialize that.

The Data Update

When we started this series: 212K women left the workforce in the first 7 months of 2025. ❌ October data: 450,000 have left. Eldercare is a significant part of this crisis.

What Comes Next:

• Next Episode (Series Finale): Career transitions & relaunching—job sharing as a secret weapon against ageism
• Full Series: Every other Tuesday through Dec 30
• ICYMI Parts 1-5: RTO Mandates, Tradwife Movement & Cultural Shifts, The Childcare Crisis, Mental Load & Burnout, The Persistent Motherhood Penalty

FeATURED RESEARCH & RESOURCES:

• National Alliance for Caregiving
• Hilarity for Charity (HFC)
• Parenting Aging Parents
• Caring Across Generations

Resources & Links Mentioned:

• Job Share Academy Waitlist
• Join Job Share, Live Life + Slay Work Facebook Community
• The Work Muse Guide to Job Sharing  ✅

More From Me:

• Sandwich generation? DM me on LinkedIn
• Follow Work Muse LinkedIn

Share This Episode!

Know someone in the sandwich generation or caring for aging parents? Share this—remind them they’re not alone and there’s a path to keep their career.

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW

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Series finale drops in two weeks! Thanks for tuning in to Jobshare Revolution podcast.

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