OPINION:
Caregiving makes all other work possible. Yet too many people don’t understand how essential it truly is. Care allows children to grow, older adults to age with dignity, people with disabilities to live independently and families to stay intact during illness or crisis. Nearly everyone will need care at some point in their lives, and most people will either provide it or depend on someone who does.
Caregiving does not stopsomeone, somewhere, is always providing care. A parent is packing lunches and tying shoes. An adult daughter is making sure her father took his medication. A neighbor is checking in on a veteran down the street. This work often unpaid and unseen is the invisible infrastructure of America, the glue that holds everything else together. While roads, bridges and broadband are essential for economic growth, none of them thrive if families cannot count on safe child care, support for aging parents, or help for a loved one with disabilities.
This is not a partisan issue. It touches families in rural communities and big cities, affecting Democrats and Republicans alike. Most people agree that parents and seniors deserve dignity, our children deserve safety and families deserve support.
Millions of people are juggling jobs and caring for a loved one, often without support. When support is missing, businesses lose experienced employees, and families face impossible choices like whether to cut back hours, leave a job they love or drain their savings because there is no other option. And this challenge is often carried by women. Regardless of ideology, no one benefits from an economy that quietly pushes capable people out of the workforce simply because they stepped up for their family. According to the Caregiver Action Network, 63 million U.S adults care for a spouse, elderly parent or relative, or special-needs child. Almost half the adults in the so-called sandwich generation, aged 40 to 59, find themselves caring for both their aging parents and for their children.
Caregiving is also about values who we are as a nation. Do we honor the contributions of older Americans by ensuring they can age with dignity? Do we recognize the sacrifices of family caregivers who manage medications, attend doctor appointments, and balance work with responsibility at home? Investing in care is not charity it is smart economic policy. When caregiving systems are strong, the entire economy benefits. Workers are more reliable. Employers retain talent. Children enter school ready to learn. Seniors avoid costly hospital stays. The return on investment is not abstract; it shows up in stronger families, healthier communities and a more stable workforce. For too long, we have treated caregiving as an individual problem instead of a shared priority.
It is time to change that. Recognizing caregiving as essential infrastructure means supporting family caregivers, strengthening home- and community-based services, and ensuring child care is affordable and accessible. It means understanding that care work whether paid or unpaid has real economic value. That is why I look forward to reintroducing two landmark pieces of legislation, the Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) Access Act to make HCBS a mandatory benefit, and the Long-Term Care Workforce Support Act to improve caregiver compensation, benefits, and support systems.
In Congress we have established the bipartisan Assisting Caregivers Today (ACT) Caucus, which I co-chair with Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va. We have introduced a number of pieces of legislation to address shortages in the caregiving workforce and support the mental wellbeing of providers. We will also shortly be introducing legislation to bolster the financial wellbeing of unpaid family caregivers.
If we want to strengthen America’s workforce and support families, supporting caregivers must be at the center of that effort. It matters to communities and states because the demographics are unavoidable. The debate is often about the how, not the need.
At its core, caregiving affirms the idea that people are not disposable once they become vulnerable and that families should not be punished for doing the right thing. Ultimately, everyone cares about caregiving, because it is personal. It is a phone call in the middle of the night, a parent who can no longer drive, a child who needs extra help, a spouse facing illness. These moments cut through ideology and partisan politics and remind us that strong families and a strong economy depend on care being possible, sustainable and respected. When caregiving is supported, everyone benefits; when it is ignored, everyone is impacted in some way.
• Rep. Debbie Dingell represents Michigan’s 6th Congressional District. She serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Health and co-chairs the Assisting Caregivers Today Caucus.
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