75% of family caregivers are women—and it's daughters carrying the burden. They lose $300,000 on average in lifetime earnings.

This one is deeply personal. My mom came into my care with Alzheimer's overnight during the 2021 snowpocalypse. Nearly five years in, and here's what I've learned: Without accessible eldercare support, your day can turn on a moment's notice. And it's a much harder, colder push than even the motherhood penalty.

Family caregivers provide 21.9 hours of care per week—a second job on top of your full-time job. Alzheimer's caregivers? We provide 1-4 years MORE care than other illnesses, often 5+ years.

There's a Rosalynn Carter quote I think about often: "There are only four kinds of people: those who have been caregivers, those who are currently caregivers, those who will be caregivers, and those who will need caregivers."

This will touch all of us.

In episode 57:

• The sobering statistics (I check every box)
• Why federal support falls dramatically short
• What employers are doing—and what they're failing at
• 5 strategies sandwich generation caregivers are using to survive
• 💡 How job sharing lets dual caregivers keep Senior/Director/C-Suite jobs
• My truth: How job sharing skills saved me when diagnosis came

Here's what changed everything: You CAN keep your demanding career and care for aging parents—WITH a job share partner to hand over the baton so you can schedule appointments and handle care needs. Built-in flexibility without constant negotiating.

When we started this series: 212K women left. ❌ October data: 450,000. 😵 Eldercare is a significant part of this crisis.

Featured Research & Organizations that Support Caregivers:

• National Alliance for Caregiving statistics
• Hilarity for Charity
  Parenting Aging Parents
  Caring Across Generations

Resources:

• FREE Guide to Job Sharing 👉 workmuse.com/guide
• Sandwich generation ? 🤔 DM me on LinkedIn
• Join Work Muse Facebook Community

One gender is not more suited to provide care than another—it's about damn time we unsocialize that.

Episode Website: workmuse.com/57
Transcript: workmuse.com/57transcript

Send Melissa a Text Message.

RATE, REVIEW & FOLLOW ON APPLE PODCASTS

Thank you for supporting my bootstrapped social good business and mission!

“I love Melissa and Jobshare Revolution.” <– If that sounds like you, please consider leaving me a 5⭐ rating and review! Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate 5⭐ , and select “Write a Review.” Then be sure to let me know what you loved most about the episode!

Also, if you haven’t done so already, follow the podcast. This helps me support more people—just like you—to find true work-life balance. 🙌🙌