MoneyMatters Long-term care for Christmas?
Don’t laugh – it might make the greatest gift, especially for women By Mark W. Rice
W 58 | Food & Wine • 2008
hen it comes to long-term care, you could say
that women get the short end of the stick. They are the hardest hit on both the giving and receiv- ing ends. Women are the predominate caregivers in our society. More than seven out of 10 unpaid
caregivers are women. And yet they are also more likely to need long-term care themselves, especially institutional care. About 80 percent of nursing home residents are women. Why? Wives are often younger than
their husbands. And they (arguably) take better care of themselves. Thus, the husband is typically the first to need long-term care. While the husband gets wonderful care delivered by a loving person who knows him well and takes care of him in the ultimate private room – his home – wives are often left to find help on their own. This might include supplemental home care or something
