Unpaid Family Caregiving in Maine Valued at $5.5 Billion

An estimated 310,000 Maine residents supplied 220 million hours of unpaid care to aging or disabled adult relatives in 2025, work valued at $5.5 billion, according to figures from AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving cited by The Portland Press Herald. A decade earlier, 178,000 Mainers provided care valued at $2.2 billion. Nationally, the estimated value climbed from $470 billion to $1 trillion over the same stretch, while the number of caregivers rose 22.5%, to 59 million.

AARP puts the hourly value of that care in Maine at $25, or roughly $52,000 a year at 40 hours a week. Noël Bonam, AARP Maine state director, said the long-term care system "would crumble without those family caregivers."

Nearly a quarter of Maine's 1.4 million residents are 65 or older, and the Maine Center for Economic Policy counts a gap of 2,300 workers in care jobs for older residents. State economist Amanda Rector told the Press Herald the imbalance will widen as the population over 75 grows.

Public support remains limited. Of 4,720 claims approved under the Maine Paid Family and Medical Leave program from April through June, 11.6% involved caring for a relative with a serious health condition, the Maine Department of Labor reported.

The Southern Maine Agency on Aging rebranded as AgeMaine in October 2026 and will open a caregiver page on its site on October 16, with plans for individualized guidance, employer services and an eventual paid membership, chief executive Megan Walton said.

This story was first reported by The Portland Press Herald.