RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:
Because of the pandemic, seniors in this country are suddenly finding themselves with new responsibilities. As Americans increasingly get sick or lose jobs, they're turning to older relatives for care and financial support. Sally Herships has the story.
SALLY HERSHIPS, BYLINE: Anna Romero is dealing with a common pandemic problem - finding some quiet at home. Her husband, Ivan, wants to watch TV in the living room, but she wants to talk on the phone. So she tells him not to distract her.
ANNA ROMERO: Ivan, you can't talk to me while I'm on the phone. I said that. So you need to stay there and I need to go in the bathroom.
HERSHIPS: So Anna heads to the bathroom. For lunch, Ivan and Anna ordered a Taco Bell combo. It came with a free strawberry drink, so she brings her plastic cup. The Romeros have been married for 48 years. They live in Brooklyn. Ivan was a school custodian, and Anna worked at JPMorgan Chase, both for more than three decades. After that, Anna got a part-time job. Now at 68, she's retired but not by choice. Five years ago, Ivan was diagnosed with dementia. Now he'll put on one sneaker and one shoe. He's confused. He says no one loves him. Anna needs to remind him to brush his teeth.
ROMERO: This is my new 24/7 caregiving job. Yes.
HERSHIPS: When Ivan was diagnosed, Anna found a memory care center. Ivan was picked up every morning. He'd go play dominoes and checkers. He got to socialize. He was there for five hours a day so Anna could go to work. But when the pandemic hit, the center had to close and Anna had to quit. Her job couldn't be done from home, and someone needed to take care of Ivan.
ROMERO: Not working anymore, so now I have to - need more money out of pocket to be able to buy food and shelter and everything else and bills. I mean, everybody got bills.
HERSHIPS: Anna and Ivan saved for retirement, hundreds of thousands in a 401k. But that means they're stuck, considered too well off for Medicaid, which could pay for help for Ivan. For a while, if Anna needed a break, she hired a friend, someone Ivan was comfortable with for up to $25 an hour. But between that, the mortgage, medication and all the other bills life throws their way, Anna says she's been slowly withdrawing their savings. Beth Finkel is with AARP New York. She says in New York state alone, 2 1/2 million seniors are taking care of others. That means those that have savings are spending them and others are relying on Social Security earlier than they planned.
BETH FINKEL: Who can even think about it - your retirement - if you're struggling to put food on the table today? You're going to do whatever you have to do that's legal to be able to maintain yourself and your family.
HERSHIPS: And many seniors are facing another problem. Due to job loss from the pandemic, almost half of 18 to 25-year-olds are now living with their parents again. Olivia Mitchell directs research on retirement security at Wharton.
OLIVIA MITCHELL: So part of what the older folk are doing is taking care of their children who are back home with them again.
HERSHIPS: And Mitchell says today's seniors are often more in debt than their counterparts 30 years ago. They've taken on bigger mortgages and have more medical bills. Then there are student loans.
MITCHELL: In fact, something like 6% of retirees are now having part of their Social Security checks garnished because of student loans they haven't paid.
HERSHIPS: Some of it is for themselves; some of it is for their kids. Anna doesn't have to worry about that. Her kids are settled, out of the house and college is paid for. But the husband of the friend she'd been paying to take care of Ivan got COVID and died. Then her friend got it. Anna has some help from her kids, but now she's mostly on her own again. She started having anxiety attacks. She says they feel like heart attacks.
ROMERO: There's a lot of crying days. There's a lot of angry days. You have no idea - no idea how hard this is.
HERSHIPS: Anna is hoping to keep Ivan at home as long as she can handle it. If his dementia gets worse, care could cost thousands of dollars a month. And at that rate, the couple's savings would be gone in about five or six years. And then what? Anna is 68. She says she hopes when the pandemic ends, she can go back to work, just enough to try to ensure that the couple can afford their future.
Sally Herships, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF BRAD MEHLDAU'S "DON'T BE SAD") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.