Love Doesn't Pay The Bills: Highlighting the Value of Family Caregiving

Two Squared Media Productions
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In Love Doesn't Pay the Bills, we explore the role of family caregivers in the modern United States through personal stories and interviews with leaders. Care work is vital to all other aspects of life, yet often under-resourced. Caregivers cannot house and feed ourselves or provide for our own medical needs based on our love for our family members alone: access to income matters. We also have the same needs as other workers for regular time off, to participate in social life and recreation, and for ongoing education and new opportunities over time. email Lisa: lisatschudi@twosquaredmediaproductions.com Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/love-doesn-t-pay-the-bills-highlighting-the-value-of-family-caregiving--5692861/support.

  1. The Value of Family Caregiving Across America: With Guest Rita Choula

    3D AGO

    The Value of Family Caregiving Across America: With Guest Rita Choula

    Rita B. Choula, MA is the senior director of caregiving at the AARP Public Policy Institute. In her role, she drives the development of family caregiving initiatives by providing content expertise, both within AARP and in partnership with a range of external collaborators. Her work bridges policy and research to practice, centered on identifying and supporting needs of family caregivers. Rita shares information from AARP's Valuing the Invaluable report: American family members provide 49.5 billion hours of care with an economic value of $1 trillion.  Family care tasks include technical nursing tasks which in a paid setting would be highly paid.  Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/love-doesn-t-pay-the-bills-highlighting-the-value-of-family-caregiving--5692861/support. Follow us on Facebook or Bluesky.  Subscribe to Lisa's newsletter on Substack.

    32 min
  2. Considering Our Time: With Guest Nancy Folbre

    MAY 7

    Considering Our Time: With Guest Nancy Folbre

    "Conventional measures of economic success don’t capture the experience of everyday life in the U.S. The stock market is booming, and Gross Domestic Product is trudging upward. But inflation remains endemic, and the cost of care services is going up even faster than the “cost of living” measured by the standard Consumer Price Index." -Nancy Folbre What economic picture do we get when we ask questions about how people use all of their time, rather than just tracking dollars earned and spent? Guest Nancy Folbre is Professor Emerita of Economics at UMass Amherst and the author of Making Care Work: Why Our Economy Should Put People First. We discuss the limitations of using GDP to define the health of our economy and how we get very different pictures when we consider time use rather than earmed money alone.  Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/love-doesn-t-pay-the-bills-highlighting-the-value-of-family-caregiving--5692861/support. Follow us on Facebook or Bluesky.  Subscribe to Lisa's newsletter on Substack.

    30 min
  3. Love Is Not the Same as Unlimited Skilled Labor: With Guest Laura Mauldin

    APR 30

    Love Is Not the Same as Unlimited Skilled Labor: With Guest Laura Mauldin

    Welcome back to the relaunch of Love Doesn't Pay the Bills: Highlighting the Value of Care Work!  Guest Laura Mauldin is the author of "In Sickness and In Health", about America's failure to properly support citizens who are chronically ill or disabled, instead relying on the unpaid labor of spouses. Laura interviews care recipient and caregiver dyads who are romantic partners. Laura shares some of her own experience caregiving for a spouse. We discuss the common framing of 'love' to obligate people to extensive care labor, some of the harms this obligation causes as well as common themes Laura noticed in her interviews.  Connect with Love Doesn't Pay the Bills Podcast on FacebookFind lovedoesntpaypod on Blueskysign up for Lisa's newsletter right to your email  Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/love-doesn-t-pay-the-bills-highlighting-the-value-of-family-caregiving--5692861/support. Follow us on Facebook or Bluesky.  Subscribe to Lisa's newsletter on Substack.

    34 min
  4. There are Roles for Both Informal and Formal Supports in Caregiving: With Guest Donna Thomson

    04/24/2025

    There are Roles for Both Informal and Formal Supports in Caregiving: With Guest Donna Thomson

    Informal or natural supports are care that is provided as part of a relationship, unpaid and outside of particular organizations or structures. It's what we build relationships from and a deep part of being  human.  Formal supports are the paid caregivers who do specific tasks at specific times as part of a paid job within some kind of organization. For example: A parent providing care for their own child is informal support, and a teacher at a preschool provides formal support. Formal supports cannot replace family care, but they can wrap around the whole dyad or family to support the meaningful, loving care which happens informally. Donna Thomson is a co-author of a study on the interaction between formal supports and informal. Donna Thomson is a caregiver, author and award-winning educator.  She is the mother of two grown children, one who has severe cerebral palsy and medical complexity. Donna also helped care for her mother who lived with dementia until she passed away in the summer of 2018 at the age of 96. Donna is the co-author (with Dr. Zachary White) of The Unexpected Journey of Caring: The Transformation of Loved One to Caregiver (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019) and author of The Four Walls of My Freedom: Lessons I’ve Learned From a Life of Caregiving (The House of Anansi Press, 2014). Donna is a co-founder and Co-Director of CanChild Family Engagement in Research Program and she facilitates the Caregiving Essentials Course, all at McMaster University. She currently sits on the advisory board of the Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence where she won the inaugural Vickie Cammack Trailblazer Award. Read more about the study on Donna's Blog Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/love-doesn-t-pay-the-bills-highlighting-the-value-of-family-caregiving--5692861/support. Follow us on Facebook or Bluesky.  Subscribe to Lisa's newsletter on Substack.

    29 min
  5. Start Small: With Guest Suzanne Ricklin

    04/17/2025

    Start Small: With Guest Suzanne Ricklin

    Financial impact can be one of the most difficult aspects of being a family caregiver.  Suzanne Ricklin joins us to discuss the particular impact of caregiving on Women investors, and encourages each of us to start small because saving even a little bit can make an impact on our future financial situation.  She talks about hiring a financial advisor and why women have particular advising needs.   Suzanne Ricklin serves as vice president, Retention & Sales for Nationwide’sRetirement Solutions Distribution team. She is responsible for the retention andgrowth of our existing government and corporate retirement clients incorporatinga strategic account management approach across all plan types. She also hasresponsibility for our Consultant Relations team that is focused on driving brandawareness of Nationwide’s unique value proposition in the marketplace. The retention teams across corporate and government, the large custom planteam, the Retirement Resource Group and the Consultant Relations team reportto Suzanne. Her teams are responsible for increasing the expansion ofNationwide solutions in strategic alignment with client goals and objectives.The retention teams across corporate and government, the large custom planteam, the Retirement Resource Group and the Consultant Relations team reportto Suzanne. Her teams are responsible for increasing the expansion ofNationwide solutions in strategic alignment with client goals and objectives. Read the full article "More than Two-Thirds of Women Investors' Careers Impacted by Caregiving Responsibilities" by Nationwide Find Nationwide's additional resources for investing here Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/love-doesn-t-pay-the-bills-highlighting-the-value-of-family-caregiving--5692861/support. Follow us on Facebook or Bluesky.  Subscribe to Lisa's newsletter on Substack.

    22 min
  6. Everybody Cares: With Guest Jay Chaudry

    04/03/2025

    Everybody Cares: With Guest Jay Chaudry

    Jay Chaudry and Lisa get philosophical about care.  We acknowledge the multi-faceted nature of care as a main feature of the human experience.   Beyond narratives that place care firmly on one side or the other of various binary descriptions, care is woven in many ways throughout our lives.  What does this have to do with public policy?  How might we change our advocacy if we view care as an important, key part of our humanity? Read Jay's full article, "Beyond False Binaries in Care New perspectives on the most fundamental of human activities" here: https://open.substack.com/pub/favorablethrivingconditions/p/beyond-false-binaries-in-care?r=mras5&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false Jay Chaudhary has the unique experience of simultaneously creating policy for and executing a successful state behavioral health strategy. During his five year tenure as Director of the Indiana Division of Mental Health and Addiction and Chair of the Indiana Behavioral Health Commission, Jay led a significant overhaul of Indiana’s behavioral health system, resulting in a significant jump in the state’s overall mental health rankings. Jay has recently begun a new journey as Senior Fellow for Mental Health and Wellness at the Sagamore Institute, an Indianapolis, Indiana based research institution. Jay’s work at Sagamore focuses on continued advocacy for equitable behavioral health care access and exploration of strategies for improving overall community well-being. Jay is an Aspen Institute Ascend Fellow and has received a number of accolades for his work, including being named a “20 Under 40” State Government Leader from the Council of State Governments and a ”Champion of Justice” by the Indiana Judges Association. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/love-doesn-t-pay-the-bills-highlighting-the-value-of-family-caregiving--5692861/support. Follow us on Facebook or Bluesky.  Subscribe to Lisa's newsletter on Substack.

    28 min

  7. 03/27/2025

    What Would It Mean to Have Work Requirements Attached to Medicaid: With Guest Mary-Beth Malcarney

    We've talked a lot recently about possible cuts to Medicaid.  One possible way de facto cuts could be implemented is work requirements.  Mary-Beth Malcarney joins us to talk all about how such requirements would impact people who currently use Medicaid, family caregivers, and in fact, everyone in the US, including those using private insurance.  Caregivers will understand that sometimes, while we may qualify for a formal program, doing the administrative legwork to receive it might be difficult to impossible.  How does one prove they are a family caregiver if that is an exception, anyway? Read the full Families USA fact sheet on Medicaid work reporting requirements here: https://familiesusa.org/resources/medicaid-work-reporting-requirements-bureaucratic-burdens-that-threaten-working-families-providers-and-local-economies/ The Families USA health action resource page is here, with lots of information about how to make your own Medicaid story known to your legislators: https://familiesusa.org/healthactionresources/ Mary-Beth Malcarney is the Senior Advisor on Medicaid Policy at Families USA.  She previously lead a project to advise the Social Security Administration on updating disability policies as they relate to the health of transgender and gender diverse people.  She also worked as an assistant research professor at at The George Washington University (GWU). Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/love-doesn-t-pay-the-bills-highlighting-the-value-of-family-caregiving--5692861/support. Follow us on Facebook or Bluesky.  Subscribe to Lisa's newsletter on Substack.

    26 min
  8. What Caregivers Can Do to Preserve and Protect Services for People With Disabilities: With Guest Casey Doherty

    03/20/2025

    What Caregivers Can Do to Preserve and Protect Services for People With Disabilities: With Guest Casey Doherty

    There are threats to Medicaid among many other services, and today we talk about how to help preserve access to public services for disability related support needs that help both caregivers and people with disabilities.   There are various approaches each individual can take to make an impact on public services.  If we each do what we can, where we are with the resources we have, people with disabilities will receive the formal public support they need.   Casey Doherty is the policy analyst for the Disability Justice Initiative at American Progress. Prior to joining American Progress, Doherty served as a paralegal specialist at the Federal Trade Commission and as fellowship alumni liaison at Partners for Youth with Disabilities, where she facilitated a national fellowship program for young people with disabilities. Doherty holds bachelor’s degrees in government and American studies from Georgetown University and a master’s degree in disability studies from the City University of New York’s School of Professional Studies. She is a doctoral student studying special education and disability studies at the University of Nevada, Reno. Casey's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caseydoherty1/ The article Casey co-authored is here: https://www.americanprogress.org/article/how-the-disability-community-can-fight-back-in-2025/ Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/love-doesn-t-pay-the-bills-highlighting-the-value-of-family-caregiving--5692861/support. Follow us on Facebook or Bluesky.  Subscribe to Lisa's newsletter on Substack.

    31 min
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In Love Doesn't Pay the Bills, we explore the role of family caregivers in the modern United States through personal stories and interviews with leaders. Care work is vital to all other aspects of life, yet often under-resourced. Caregivers cannot house and feed ourselves or provide for our own medical needs based on our love for our family members alone: access to income matters. We also have the same needs as other workers for regular time off, to participate in social life and recreation, and for ongoing education and new opportunities over time. email Lisa: lisatschudi@twosquaredmediaproductions.com Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/love-doesn-t-pay-the-bills-highlighting-the-value-of-family-caregiving--5692861/support.

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