Report · Culture

Nearly one-in-five Americans provided unpaid elder care

Reading

In a Verasight survey of 1,000 U.S. adults conducted Nov. 14 to 20, 2025, 19% of Americans said they had served as an unpaid caregiver for one or more elderly family members or friends for at least six months of the past year.

About eight-in-ten said they had not served as an unpaid caregiver in that period (81%).

Topline

single choice

Topline distribution

19% of Americans gave unpaid care to elderly family or friends in the past year.

Have you served as an unpaid caregiver for one or more elderly family members or friends for at least six months of the past year?

  • No 80.8%
  • Yes 19.2%

2025 · base n 1,000 · +/- 3.2%

Module 3

View source

Methodology

Full methodology
Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting
Field dates
2025-11-14 → 2025-11-20
Base (unweighted)
1,000
Margin of error
+/- 3.2%
Module
Module 3

Source

  • 01
    Nearly one-in-five Americans provided unpaid elder carereports.verasight.io/reports/verasight-apha-omnibus-survey-2025-148

Citation

Verasight APHA Omnibus Survey #2025-148, fielded November 14-20, 2025, N=1,000 US adults age 18+, +/- 3.2%.

https://reports.verasight.io/reports/verasight-apha-omnibus-survey-2025-148#have-you-served-as-an-unpaid-caregiver-for-one-or-more-elderly-family-members-or-friends-for-at-least-six-months-of-the-past-year

Verasight survey methodology

How Verasight conducts surveys.

This page describes the Verasight general survey contract, separate from how the Data Library packages it. Each wave's specific field dates, sample sizes, and module breakdown are listed in that wave's report.

Mode
Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting.
Population
US adults age 18+.
Sample design
Surveys are run as omnibus or single-topic waves. Omnibus waves are split into modules with their own respondent set, typically around one thousand respondents per module.
Field window
Each wave specifies its own field dates. Most omnibus waves field across roughly two weeks.
Weighting
Per-module weighting to CPS targets including age, race and ethnicity, sex, income, education, region, and metropolitan status.
Partisanship benchmark
Pew Research Center's NPORS benchmarking surveys, three-year running average.
Vote benchmark
2024 presidential vote population benchmarks.
Margin of error
Typically about plus or minus 3.4 to 3.6 percent per module at standard module sizes. Question-level MoE is recomputed when a base shrinks materially below the module baseline.
Reporting
Every wave is published as a standalone report at verasight.io/reports with full instrument and methodology.
Transparency
AAPOR transparency standards.

Wave-specific methodology, full weighting variable lists, and verbatim instrument text live in each report at verasight.io/reports.