And probably an obvious question, but what was your impetus for exploring this issue? Or maybe how did your interest in this area develop?

The impetus really came from kind of recognizing that we're facing several major trends converging at the same time.

We obviously have an aging population, rising health and long-term care costs, growing affordability challenges, and an ever-evolving public financing landscape through programs like Medicare and Medicaid.

And so in the middle of all this are families trying to navigate how to meet the needs of aging relatives.

I think we talk about family caregivers as an essential and source of unpaid hands-on care in the U.S., but when we think about what caregiving looks like, we tend to think about it in terms of helping a loved one get dressed, bathe, prepare meals, manage medications, or getting them to appointments.

But one of the questions that really motivates my work is how can we expand our understanding of caregiving to include the financial responsibilities that families take on? For many families, adult children are paying their parents bills, helping with housing costs, covering medical expenses, or just even transferring money to help them make pens meet.

And these contributions may not look like caregiving in the traditional sense, but they can represent a very real and sometimes substantial form of support.

So what would you say are the take-home messages? What did you learn that you want to share with our readers and listeners?