WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, and U.S. Senator Rick Scott (R-Fla.) this week introduced the Multigenerational Home Caregiver Credit Act, bipartisan legislation to address the nationwide aging crisis and combat skyrocketing health care costs by creating a $2,000 tax credit for adults caring for an older family member within the same residence. The Senators’ legislation will promote dignified, compassionate aging in place and support new and current generations of caregivers by incentivizing in-home and intergenerational caregiving.
“We can always do more to meet the needs of aging Americans, and supporting the family caregivers who deliver world-class care to their relatives is a major part of ensuring that older folks can continue to age with dignity in the comfort of their own homes. Creating a tax credit that provides relief to families providing in-home care to elderly relatives will help aging Americans remain in their communities with a known and reliable support system,” said Senator Welch. “I’m proud to partner with Senator Scott on this legislation to ensure older Americans can age with compassion surrounded by the ones they love.”
“Multigenerational households have long strengthened our communities and improved the well-being of our aging Americans, something families across the country already understand. As chairman of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, I’m proud to help lead this legislation to establish the Multigenerational Home Caregiver Credit, providing family caregivers with meaningful relief as they care for aging parents or family members at home, where they can maintain their dignity and independence while surrounded by loved ones,” said Senator Scott.
The number of Americans living in multigenerational homes has quadrupled since 1970, with nearly 60 million Americans—18% of all U.S. households—living in an intergenerational household in 2021. In recent years, over a quarter of U.S. adults living in a multigenerational home cite caregiving for an adult family member as a major reason for their living arrangement. Adult family members can provide valuable support to aging adult relatives, including assisting with medications, finances, grocery shopping, meal preparation, and other care needs, which can often delay or prevent institutionalization.
For older adults with dementia and disability, their chance of nursing home placement is reduced by about 50% in the subsequent two years following diagnosis when they live with an adult family caregiver, in comparison to receiving care from a family member living outside their household. Additionally, older adults living in multigenerational households exhibit improved mental health and better cognition with concurrent hearing loss as they age.
In addition to supporting older Americans, multigenerational homes help address the national aging crisis by reducing unwanted transitions to long-term care facilities that struggle with bed availability and workforce shortages. In-home caregiving also reduces the need for increasingly expensive and often unreliable third-party caregiver support, a service already vastly inaccessible in rural communities.
The Multigenerational Home Caregiver Credit Act recognizes a qualifying adult family member as a mother, father, uncle, aunt, grandparent, or in-law living with their aging relative for at least six months of the taxable year. The bill also requires all adult caregivers to submit an attestation from a medical provider when filing their taxes to demonstrate their status as a known caregiver.
Additionally, the bill also mandates qualifying adult caregivers to provide support for a minimum of ten hours per week in accordance with the Lawton Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADLs) scale, which measures the maximum assistance needed for individuals to complete everyday tasks independently. Such tasks can include assisting with basic care needs such as bathing, dressing, eating or transferring, as well as more complex tasks such as finances, transportation, and cooking.
The Multigenerational Home Caregiver Credit Act is endorsed by the National Alliance for Caregiving.
“We commend Senator Welch and Senator Scott for introducing this important legislation, which recognizes the essential caregiving work that family members provide within intergenerational households. Family caregivers serve as the invisible backbone of our nation’s care system. Our latest research reveals that more than half of family caregivers experience negative financial impacts due to their caregiving responsibilities. Tax credits that support family caregivers represent a meaningful step toward alleviating the financial hardships these individuals face daily,” said Jason Resendez, President and CEO, National Alliance for Caregiving.
Learn more about the Multigenerational Home Caregiver Credit Act.
Read and download the full text of the bill.
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