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A Place for Mom’s September 2026 survey found that 58% of respondents whose loved ones did not live in senior housing viewed in-home care as a “great option,” up from 42% in 2025. But affordability remains a barrier: 66% of family caregivers reported financial strain, and 45% of families who stopped home care cited its cost.
A new survey commissioned by A Place for Mom found that more family caregivers see in-home care as a strong option, even as many struggle to afford professional services. In the survey, 66% reported financial strain and nearly one-third said they found it difficult to understand how to pay for professional care, highlighting a gap between families’ preferences and their ability to hire in-home help.
Among respondents whose loved ones did not live in senior housing, 58% called in-home care a “great option”, up from 42% in 2025. The report describes this as a 38% increase. Support for senior living was nearly unchanged: the share calling it a great option slipped from 16% in 2025 to 15% in 2026.
Interest did not mean families were able to sustain paid care. A Place for Mom CEO Tatyana Zlotsky told Home Health Care News that 45% of families who discontinued home care said it was too expensive to continue. In the survey, 38% of respondents said cost was a reason they provided care themselves, compared with 21% in 2025.
The report also found that caregivers spent an average of 23 hours a week providing care. Forty percent said their mental health had worsened since they began caregiving, up from 33% in 2025. Those findings describe caregivers’ reported experiences; the survey does not establish that caregiving alone caused the reported mental-health changes.
Why Care Preferences Outpace Budgets
The findings point to a practical problem for families weighing care options: favoring care at home does not guarantee access to paid support. When professional services feel unaffordable or their prices are difficult to understand, relatives may take on more care themselves or stop services they have already started.
That has consequences for both household finances and caregivers’ time. Respondents reported spending nearly a full workday each week on care, on average, while a growing share said their mental health had worsened. The survey does not show how many families lack access to care, but it suggests that cost and uncertainty can limit the choices available to them.
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How the Survey Compared Care Options
A Place for Mom, a New York City-based platform that connects families with aging-care options, commissioned the online quantitative survey. Consumer research company Morning Light Strategy conducted it in September 2026. The study included 1,013 U.S. nonprofessional caregivers, paid and unpaid, ages 40 to 75, who cared for at least one adult age 55 or older. It excluded professional caregivers.
The report compared several results with figures from 2025, including attitudes toward in-home care and senior living, cost as a reason for providing care, and self-reported mental-health changes. Its findings are based on survey responses; the source material does not provide further details about the survey’s sampling method or margin of error.
What the Survey Cannot Establish
The results reflect the views of the survey’s 1,013 respondents and do not establish how representative those responses are of all U.S. caregivers. The source material does not give a margin of error, detailed sampling information, or the survey questions used to measure financial strain and mental-health changes.
It is also unclear how many respondents currently used professional home care, what services or hourly prices they encountered, or whether their financial circumstances changed between survey years. The reported comparisons show differences in survey responses, but do not explain what caused them.
Pricing Clarity and Care Decisions
The report does not announce a policy change, new service or follow-up study. Zlotsky’s comments point to clearer information about costs, service options and fit as a need for families considering professional care. The source material does not specify whether A Place for Mom or another organization plans steps in response to the findings.
For now, the survey offers a snapshot of caregiver attitudes and reported pressures in September 2026. Further data would be needed to show whether the increased interest in home care leads to more families hiring services, and whether affordability or pricing information changes those decisions.
Key Questions
What did the 2026 survey find about interest in in-home care?
Fifty-eight percent of respondents whose loved ones did not live in senior housing called in-home care a “great option,” compared with 42% in the 2025 results cited by the report.
Why are some families stopping professional home care?
A Place for Mom CEO Tatyana Zlotsky said 45% of families who discontinued home care cited the expense of continuing it.
How many caregivers reported financial strain?
The report found that 66% of family caregivers experienced financial strain. Nearly one-third said it was difficult to understand how to pay for professional care.
Who took part in the survey?
The online survey included 1,013 U.S. nonprofessional caregivers, both paid and unpaid, ages 40 to 75, who cared for at least one adult age 55 or older. It was conducted in September 2026 by Morning Light Strategy for A Place for Mom.
Source: homehealthcarenews.com
