Happy statistics of the day

I was just checking up on caretaker statistics to print a comment on an "ain't it awful" screed elsewhere on the web.

(Yes, I know I can write "ain't it awful" screeds myself: And if you thing what I write is bad, you should see the ones I delete).

So here is the statistic that shows most people still care:

65.7 million caregivers make up 29% of the U.S. adult population providing care to someone who is ill, disabled or aged.3 52 million caregivers provide care to adults (aged 18+) with a disability or illness.4 43.5 million5 care for someone 50+ years of age and 14.9 million care for someone who has Alzheimer's disease or other dementia.6 LGBT respondents are slightly more likely to have provided care to an adult friend or relative in the past six months: 21% vs. 17% non-LGBT.7 Caregivers of adults are now older, on average, than were their counterparts in 2004. Their average age now 49.2 years, compared to 46.4 in 2004.8 Caregiver services were valued at $450 billion per year in 2009—up from $375 billion in 20079—and unpaid family caregivers will likely continue to be the largest source of long-term care services in the U.S. The aging population 65+ will more than double between the years 2000-2030, increasing to 71.5 million from 35.1 million in 2000.10