Duke-NUS Study: Informal caregiving for Singapore’s seniors valued at $1.28B annually

SINGAPORE: A recent study by Duke-NUS Medical School has revealed that the monetary value of time spent by informal caregivers in Singapore, who care for seniors aged 75 and above, amounts to approximately S$1.28 billion annually.

This figure represents about 11% of the government’s expenditure on healthcare and highlights the crucial yet often overlooked role of informal caregivers in the country’s eldercare system.

The study, published in the Aging And Health Research journal in June, noted that as Singapore’s population rapidly ages, with the proportion of residents aged 65 and above rising from 7.2% in 2000 to 16% in 2021, the role of informal caregivers is expected to become increasingly vital.

By 2030, nearly one in four citizens will be aged 65 and above, further emphasizing the importance of supporting these caregivers.

The Duke-NUS study, which is the first of its kind to estimate the monetary value of informal caregiving for seniors requiring day-to-day care in Singapore, provides essential insights for policymakers.

The researchers collected data from the ‘Caregiving Transitions among Family Caregivers of Elderly Singaporeans’ (TraCE) study, which surveyed 278 pairs of primary informal caregivers and senior care recipients from 2019 to 2020.

Primary informal caregivers—defined as family members or friends aged 21 and older who provide unpaid help for at least two out of three caregiving tasks—reported spending an average of 33 hours per week caring for their senior recipients.

This time was mainly dedicated to activities such as communication assistance, managing care needs, and offering emotional support.

The researchers estimated that the monetary value of this caregiving time equated to S$15,959 annually for each primary caregiver.

Secondary caregivers, who also contributed to caregiving, reported spending 8.4 hours per week, amounting to an estimated S$4,062 annually.

Nur Diyana Azman, Senior Research Assistant at Duke-NUS’ Centre for Ageing Research & Education (CARE) and the study’s lead author, emphasized the importance of shared caregiving responsibilities, noting that the involvement of secondary caregivers can significantly reduce the burden on primary caregivers.

The study also highlighted the significant role of migrant domestic workers in eldercare, with these workers spending an average of 42 hours per week assisting seniors with daily activities such as walking, bathing, dressing, and feeding. Combined, senior care recipients received an average of 60.5 hours of care per week.

Primary caregivers: Mostly female family members with decade-long commitment

In addition to estimating the monetary value of caregiving, the study also profiled both caregivers and care recipients.

Most care recipients were around 85 years old, predominantly female, widowed, and had no formal education.

Primary informal caregivers were typically around 61 years old, mostly female, and often the child or child-in-law of the care recipient. Many had been providing care for around a decade.

Associate Professor Rahul Malhotra, Deputy Director of Duke-NUS’ CARE and Principal Investigator of the TraCE study, stated that the study’s findings could help inform economic evaluations of care models for seniors and guide policies to better support caregivers in Singapore.

Professor Patrick Tan, Senior Vice-Dean for Research at Duke-NUS, underscored the importance of recognizing the contribution of informal caregivers, noting that without their support, formal care services would face a significantly higher burden, potentially straining social services and healthcare budgets.

“We hope that more efforts can be made to encourage and empower informal caregivers with practical tools and supportive communities so that no caregiver is alone.”

Netizens call for mandatory elder care leave

Commenting on the study’s findings in a Facebook post by The Straits Times, several netizens underscored the insufficient support for informal caregivers, particularly concerning elder care leave.

One comment pointed out that not everyone has access to caregiver leave, making it challenging to take time off for medical appointments for elderly family members.

She suggested that elder care leave should be made mandatory, as it is rarely provided by companies.

Another user argued that elder care leave should be separate from other types of leave, such as the 3 days of family care leave (FCL), asserting that combining them is inadequate for those balancing responsibilities for both elderly parents and children, creating a sense of unfairness.

Additionally, a comment noted that the recent National Day Rally did not address the issue of caregiver support, highlighting that most companies do not offer elder care leave.

This forces caregivers to use their annual leave for medical appointments, limiting their ability to spend time with their own families.