3 Side Hustles You Can Manage While Caring for an Aging Parent
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Family caregivers often lose income by cutting hours at work and then covering costs their parents cannot. A side hustle sounds like the obvious answer, but most of the usual suggestions assume you can promise a client set hours every week. Unfortunately, care at home doesn’t run to a schedule like that. Here are three options that may still work for you.
Get Paid for the Care You Already Provide
If you help your parent bathe, dress, take medicine, eat, and get to appointments, you are already doing work that someone else would be paid for. Most families assume the work is unpaid because it happens at home, but many states actually pay a family member for it.
In the US, the money comes through Medicaid and through a group of programs known as home and community-based services, or HCBS. The program exists to keep older people in their own homes instead of a nursing facility and covers the cost of a caregiver. Some states let your parents choose who that caregiver is, which is how a daughter, son, or spouse can be hired and paid.
Your starting point is the family caregiver pay rate in your state, which is the amount a program pays a relative per hour or day for care. The rate is not the same everywhere, and it also varies by program and by how much help your parent is assessed to need. Some programs hire you as a W2 employee, so tax comes out of your pay and benefits are sometimes included. To take advantage of this option, you need:
- Your parent’s Medicaid status
- A written log of the tasks you do each day and how long each one takes
- A call to your local Area Agency on Aging to know the programs in your county
An assessor decides how many hours a week get approved, so you should keep your log for at least two weeks before anyone visits.
Write for Small Business in Short Blocks
If you can put together a clear email, you may be able to earn money writing for small businesses. Companies without in-house experts are always looking for someone to help with blog posts, product descriptions, and newsletters. You can offer your services to make some extra money.
The work tends to fit your situation because a client buys a finished piece and not your presence between nine and five. You can write four hundred words at six in the morning, stop when your parent wakes up, and finish after lunch.
However, you still need to be careful about meeting deadlines. It’s also a good idea to tell your client that you care for a parent at home, which will help you both set more realistic deadlines for different tasks.
Sell Something That Doesn’t Need You Online
If you don’t want to answer a client at all, selling products online can take that pressure away. Some great options include digital downloads, printed designs on mugs or shirts, and second-hand items from local sales.
The best part is that you have flexible working hours. A print-on-demand company makes and ships the item after someone buys it, and a digital file can sell while you sleep. Most of your work happens at the start when you make the product and write the listing.
Just keep in mind that it’s normal to have slow growth in the beginning. That’s mainly because sales stay quiet until a listing gathers reviews and moves up in search results. You can use your calmer days to photograph and list in batches, or spend more time planning how you’re going to care for your parent while working.
Endnote
These gigs won’t replace a full-time income in your first month, but they don’t get in the way when you’re caring for a parent. However, you should seriously think of using any state programs available because they pay you for the care you already give. Just spend some time on the phone with your parent’s Medicaid office, and the answer should tell you how much you need to earn.
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