One of the Hardest Jobs in America. Millions Are Doing It Alone

- The article discusses the growing crisis of unpaid family caregiving in the U.S., where millions of Americans care for aging or disabled relatives without formal support, pay, or workplace accommodations. - Unlike many other wealthy countries, the U.S. lacks a national paid family leave program, universal long-term care insurance, or robust home-care worker infrastructure, leaving families to shoulder the burden alone. - "Sandwich generation" caregivers — those simultaneously raising children and caring for aging parents — are particularly stretched, and women disproportionately bear this unpaid labor, often sacrificing careers and retirement savings. - The piece likely argues that this is a structural failure of U.S. social policy rather than a personal problem, connecting to broader debates about the care economy, aging Boomers, and proposals like the Build Back Better Act’s (now defunct) caregiving provisions.