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Im live in caregiver for a elderly couple with dementia,I get little breaks during the day long enough to walk my dog, no days off.The lady is up like a dozen times all during the night so i get little to no sleep, The man requires less care from me but i still do alot for him There son pays me $3,600 per month but i wonder if thats enough ?

In my opinion, they are taking advantage of you. Perhaps not intentionally, so it is on you to educate them. Full time private care with an agency totals about $25,000 per month, with memory care facility $8000-10,000. You might inquire about local rates and advise them you need a raise.

Also, I think you would be wise to document for them what is involved for their parents' care. If you do not tell them the assumption on their part will be that all is manageable, fair and copacetic.

Your service is very valuable. Do not be afraid to ask for fair compensation and some help. It is not reasonable to expect one person to serve the needs for 2 dependent people 24/7.
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Reply to Debmiller
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So you are essentially a slave unable to leave. you still have to fill out taxes even if you are under the threshold. Otherwise if you do not file taxes, your senior social security and Medicare will be affected. Did you all your state office on employee affairs? Do you have a written contract? Does your employer have workmans comp insurance? If you get injured, then you can sue him. Everything spells illegal.
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Reply to MACinCT
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BurntCaregiver 6 min ago
Slaves do not get paid, MAC.
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Your rate works out to 8.88 an hour assuming you work 12 hours. It’s 4.44 if in fact you have to attend to her 24 hours a day.

Your “free” rent is what it would cost to rent a room. Around here that’s 1000 a month.
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Reply to PeggySue2020
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I pay a Cna who cares for my dad $32/hr and she is there 24 hours a week on avg. agree with others that your health and sanity should come first. And that you have cause to get more. If he were in a facility he’d be paying 8500 ish. Of course this is regional and level of care driven.

I was up a lot at night with care for my father who was up a lot- circling his house. He lives in a guest house on our property. I sought to limit this anxious behavior (he has late stage dementia) and he has been much better on a sleeping/anti anxiety med. A very low dose went a long way to settling his ‘out there’ behavior. That may be something to consider for the wife. It was hard for me to commit as my dad is very anti med. that behavior can be seen as mental pain over physical pain with dementia.
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Reply to AliceLS
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Does the son know what your workload is? Do you communicate with him regularly or is he just hearing about his parents' lives from them? They may not be fully informing him of all the work you're doing and the demands they place on you. Or is he local and fully aware?
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Reply to MG8522
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You should consider your Health and Lack of sleep . One Person is hard never Mind 2 - I Know because I took care of 2 People . Eventually you will get exhausted and unable to function .
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Reply to KNance72
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You should have weekends Off .
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Reply to KNance72
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Whether it is enough for you, is up to you to decide, but of course working 24/7 is impossible and is therefore illegal in almost all states. What is required is two shifts of care. The sad fact is that often family members do this work--exactly this work. And it breaks them completely. We here have seen them fall terribly ill attempting this. So on that basis I think it is wrong to attempt 24/7 care. I don't think it is safely done.

Given that, and ignoring my opinion, if you are doing this then it is up to you to ask for the salary you feel is deserved. It will be up to the family whether or not they can afford it, and whether or not they continue to have you do this work, or decide to hire another.

I wish you the best.
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Reply to AlvaDeer
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Just know that if these folks were in a facility they would be paying anywhere from $6000-$10,000 EACH a month, so yes I'd say you are way underpaid, even if your housing and food are included in your pay.
Might be time to find another job, where you can actually still have a life and get the much needed sleep we all need.
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Reply to funkygrandma59
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I priced out 24/7 home care through an agency and it was $30 an hour.

There is too little information provided in your post to tell you if it is enough.

Are you a family member? If you are living on premise do you have a lease agreement for an exchange of service? I strongly suggest your have a private care contract established for the begining of the year if you do not have one currently. To many variables that can lead you to being homeless and jobless if you do not.
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