During the 2024 campaign, President Donald Trump announced a new tax credit aimed at helping primary caregivers of parents or loved ones.
Trump’s plan would affect about 59 million American adults who provide full-time care for an adult parent or loved one, according to an AARP study. As Congress continues to debate the next spending bill and further the discussion on tax reform, it’s time we urge them to make Trump’s campaign promise law of the land. Not necessarily because it’s right to support the Americans already doing the hard work (although this is a great way to recognize their efforts), but because it will hopefully entice more to join their ranks.
Societal rot is evident in how we treat the most vulnerable among us. Conservatives focus much of their attention on the horrors of abortion, birth control, and the declining marriage and birth rates among the younger generations. However, little is talked about how we treat our elders. Spoiler: It’s not well. (Sign up for Mary Rooke’s weekly newsletter here!)
Right now, if you are over 65, you are well aware that you are living in your sunset years. Planning for the last 40 years of your life begins to feel very real and fast-approaching. For millions, this means that as soon as you are unable to live and function safely by yourself, senior or assisted living facilities are your next step. But this didn’t used to be the case.
For millennia, humans have lived in a balanced cycle. We are born; our parents take care of us until we are independent enough to manage on our own. We then live a period of time as adults alongside our parents, and when our parents are no longer able to care for themselves, we take over. This allows for social cohesion, legacy building, and familiar empathy to continue throughout generations.
However, modern society threw a wrench into this cycle with the creation of the “Old Folks Home.” The senior living market is worth almost a trillion dollars (around $923 billion) annually when including all services for the elderly. This industry thrives on telling children that it’s more convenient and helpful for them to drop their parents off at their facilities and pay the monthly fees, rather than deal with later-life care.
3 staffers accused of elder abuse after they allegedly sprayed a resident with a water bottle. Details: https://t.co/ku7MfZLP6E pic.twitter.com/oOpqV5qlij
— WBKO News (@wbkotv) November 24, 2025
If you’ve ever set foot into even a well-run senior care facility, there is an unmistakable feeling of death that permeates through the halls. And this isn’t just because of the reality that thousands of people have died there, but rather that you can see that the spark of life has faded away from most of the residents. Outside of extenuating circumstances, the care these people need can be easily adapted to home settings.
However, despite the years our loved ones sacrificed to care for us when we were vulnerable, the other side of the cycle is broken. Our society has led us to believe that caring for our aging loved ones is a burden that we (the younger generation) aren’t responsible for carrying. Of course, this is a lie. We have a responsibility to ensure their dignity of life stays intact until their dying breath in the same way they did when we were infants.
It is a bit callous to say that money should be a driver behind this change. People should inherently know what their duty is without the promise of financial assistance. However, we can surely see that encouraging younger generations of Americans to fix this broken life cycle will have a profound societal impact.
Taking care of a sick or aging loved one takes an emotional and financial toll on caregivers.
My bipartisan Credit for Caring Act helps relieve some of the financial burden on caregivers so they can stay in the workforce while caring for a loved one. pic.twitter.com/Z5RkENifsI
— Congressman Mike Carey (@RepMikeCarey) September 9, 2025
The Credit for Caring Act is bipartisan legislation that provides financial relief to family caregivers, who often face significant out-of-pocket expenses while balancing work and caregiving responsibilities. It has been reintroduced in Congress multiple times since 2016, but it is currently stalled in the House. While not perfect, it does align with Trump’s campaign promise and helps shoulder some of the financial burden primary caregivers face. (ROOKE: I Had To Push My Daughter Through A Brick Wall)
There is so much that Congress gets wrong. It hardly ever focuses on issues that will help society. It would be an amazing turn of events to see them encourage societal healing rather than furthering its demise.
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