Time as Resource and Experience

An Interdisciplinary Framework for Understanding the True Cost of Caregiving

Jessie Wang, R. Gordon Rinderknecht, Daniel Hicks, Hankyung Kate Jun, Temusa Rukundo-Ayeh

ResearchPublished Dec 16, 2025

The authors of this report develop an interdisciplinary time use framework for measuring caregiving costs. Using survey data, they show that caregivers’ well-being depends less on total hours and more on experiences, such as time fragmentation, unpredictability, and reduced time quality. Findings highlight heterogeneous caregiver needs and support data‑driven, targeted policy interventions.

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Wang, Jessie, R. Gordon Rinderknecht, Daniel Hicks, Hankyung Kate Jun, and Temusa Rukundo-Ayeh, Time as Resource and Experience: An Interdisciplinary Framework for Understanding the True Cost of Caregiving. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2025. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA4284-1.html.
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