Caring for loved ones is core to the human experience–part of what makes life meaningful and gives us joy and a sense of legacy. It is also undeniably hard at times–physically and emotionally exhausting, overwhelming, and logistically complex. Those who struggle to find reliable work or a living wage also contend with a torn social safety net and little outside support. Many of us have been socialized to believe that seeking out support means we aren’t living up to our caregiving duties, that we can “do it all”–raise kids, keep aging relatives safe and thriving, run households–often while working outside the home, too. This can be especially true for women and in particular cultures that emphasize honoring elders within the family setting.
All of this adds up to an interesting challenge and a massive opportunity for entrepreneurs interested in courting consumers in the care economy. Based on a May 2022 consumer survey of 3,110 respondents, representative from a U.S. census-representative sample across gender, age, race/ethnicity, and income, we discovered that the majority of the market–54% of caregivers–are open to paying for care services, but not yet convinced they should. This is the ‘Care Cusp’ majority. We are calling on care entrepreneurs to meet the moment and address the 54 million caregivers that we expect are interested in, but not yet paying for caregiving routinely.
However, there is a lot of work to do to ensure the benefits of care products and services are tangible for this Care Cusp majority, and to hurdle the cultural barriers that may prevent consumers from taking the leap.
In this chapter, we define just who the Care Cusp really are and look at myriad ways that entrepreneurs might enlighten them about the viability of seeking out paid support–whether for childcare, adult care, and/or homecare–to make life easier and more joyful.
