Nearly one-quarter of eldercare providers provided daily care from May 2020 to May 2021

Although the percent of the population age 15 and older providing unpaid eldercare decreased after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the percent of providers who provided eldercare daily increased. From May 2020 to May 2021, 13.8 percent of the civilian population age 15 and older provided unpaid eldercare, compared with 15.0 percent who did so from May 2018 to May 2019. Of these providers, 24.7 percent provided eldercare daily from May 2020 to May 2021, compared with 20.3 percent who did so daily from May 2018 to May 2019.

On days they provided care, daily caregivers spent 4.7 hours providing eldercare from May 2020 to 2021. That compares with 3.4 hours per day from May 2018 to May 2019. Daily caregivers spent 1.7 hours per day in caregiving associated with leisure and sports on days they provided care from May 2020 to 2021. This includes 24 minutes (0.4 hour) per day in eldercare associated with socializing and communicating. Caregiving related to household activities accounted for 1 hour and 18 minutes per day (1.3 hours) on days when daily caregivers provided eldercare.

These data are from the American Time Use Survey. Estimates are for the periods of May 10, 2018, to May 9, 2019, and May 10, 2020, to May 9, 2021. We also have more charts on American Time Use Survey data.