Implications of Aging Baby Boomers

In 2019, Canada’s largest generation in history, the Baby Boomers, will range in age from 54 (B. 1965) to 73 (B. 1946) years of age.  In 2030, a short  10.5 years from now, the entire Baby Boom generation will be between 65 and 84 years old.    

Based on the Alzheimer’s Society 2016 Report, “Prevalence and Monetary Costs of Dementia in Canada”, at that time there will be nearly one million people living with dementia and about twice as many (functioning as caregivers) directly affected by dementia.  By then it is expected the health care system and out of pocket costs will be about $16.6 billion dollars annually.   Informal, unpaid caregiver time is estimated to be 38.4 million hours per year valued at $2.4 billion dollars. 

That value comes at a cost to individual caregivers who take unpaid leave time, switch from full-time work to part-time work, or stop working completely in order to fulfill the needs of their family members.  Based on the average Canadian $50,000 annual salary and a 40-hour work week, the average hourly rate of pay for Canadians is $24.04.  At that rate, the estimated total cost for caregivers (38.4 million hours per year @ $24.04) is $92.3 million dollars worth of unpaid time.