“My mom is 81. I have a daughter who’s three.”
Jenna Bussman-Wise’s personal experience instantly elicited nods at our recent panel on investing in the care economy.
The sandwich generation, or maybe more accurately, the panini generation—crushed by the pressures of caring for both aging parents and young children—feels familiar to many.
Yet, the care economy remains a massively underinvested opportunity hiding in plain sight.
Heather Burke of Care Access Real Estate® (CARE) brought together a panel of experienced practitioners to discuss this investment landscape, centered around the recent white paper Caring for Tomorrow: A Guide to Investing in the Care Economy:
Here’s the math that should keep every investor awake at night:
Everyone needs care, few can afford it, and hardly anyone is actively investing in solutions.
Families with young children struggle to find child care that’s both affordable and logistically feasible. Home care for aging or disabled individuals remains out of reach for families who desperately need it. Meanwhile, an aging population and caregiver shortages are creating a perfect storm of demand that shows no signs of slowing.
One stark consequence: “In effect, the wage gap is really a care gap,” explained Jennifer Stybel. When families can’t access affordable care, someone—usually women—leaves the workforce. The ripple effects touch every corner of the economy.
Pooja Eppanapally put it simply:
“Caregivers make all other work possible. [The shortage of care options] affects all of us, and it’s going to take all of us to come up with scalable solutions in this space.”
Yet despite being a $649 billion market that touches every family, workplace, and community, the care economy remains largely invisible to mainstream investors. That disconnect between widespread need and capital allocation? That’s an opportunity.
The beauty of the care economy investing opportunity lies in its breadth and flexibility. There is space for philanthropic grants to de-risk early ventures, impact-first investments, market-rate private equity to scale proven solutions, and everything in between. Panelists shared various approaches to engage with the care economy.
Think of care economy investing as building an ecosystem. As noted in the white paper, philanthropic capital creates proof points, blended finance models reduce risk for institutional investors, and market-rate capital scales what works. Each type of investment enhances the others.
Stybel captured the interconnected nature of this opportunity:
“We know that in order to achieve lasting change in this area, we need new and better policies. We need more tech innovation and, therefore, more investment going into the space. We need catalytic philanthropic funding to take risks on new ideas and create proof points.”
Translation for investors: This isn’t just about picking winning companies or fund managers. It’s about positioning capital where policy implementation, tech breakthroughs, and market demand intersect.
Ready to explore care economy investing? Start here.
Right-size your investment strategy with the intended impact. As Bussman-Wise emphasized, “Patient capital around a mission is imperative.”
Growing the care economy is vital for us all. It requires collaboration across sectors, patient capital, and innovative financing models to create systemic change, but there are bright spots that show what’s possible when we work together.
*Mission Driven Finance is not affiliated with these companies or funds and has not conducted due diligence on them as of this writing. Consult your advisors to determine what, if any, investments make sense for your context.
Disclosure: This communication is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell, a solicitation to buy, or a recommendation for any security.