Press Release: Care, Actually Launches to Examine Our Caregiving in the U.S.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 2, 2026

WASHINGTON, DC — A new Substack publication, Care, Actually, launches today to address one of the most urgent yet least clearly understood challenges facing families, workers, and communities: caregiving, and the systems meant to support it.

Care, Actually is written by Robert Espinoza, host of the award-winning podcast, A Question of Care, and a nationally recognized policy leader and storyteller with nearly 30 years of experience advancing social change across caregiving, aging, workforce, and other pressing issues.

Caregiving now touches nearly every aspect of American life. More than 50 million people provide unpaid care to family members or loved ones, while millions more rely on paid caregivers across home care, long-term care, and health systems. At the same time, care workers remain among the lowest-paid and most precariously employed in the economy, and families across income levels struggle to find affordable, reliable support. As the population ages and chronic illness rises, these pressures are accelerating.

Care, Actually was created to help close that gap.

“Caregiving touches nearly every life, yet we talk about it in ways that are fragmented, sentimental, or overly technical—leaving us with a poorly designed, under-resourced system that people are forced to navigate alone," said Robert Espinoza.

Published every few weeks, Care, Actually features original essays that examine caregiving not only as a personal experience, but as a set of systems shaping work, health, economic security, and democratic life. The writing combines lived experience with systems-level analysis to explore why caregiving systems fail so many people—and what meaningful repair could look like.

The publication argues that the caregiving sector remains in disrepair in part because of a persistent lack of clear, accessible information. Families are left without a roadmap. Workers are rendered invisible. And policymakers and the public alike often underestimate how deeply care systems influence labor markets, gender equity, racial disparities, and community stability.

The first essay reflects on a health crisis that reshaped the author’s understanding of care and survival, using that moment as an entry point into broader questions about dependence, dignity, and the quiet infrastructure that makes everyday life possible.

Espinoza has spent nearly three decades working at the intersection of caregiving, workforce development, and aging policy. Care, Actually marks a return to long-form, independent writing at a moment when trust in institutions and traditional media is under strain, and when deeper public understanding of caregiving systems is increasingly critical.

Care, Actually is available on Substack here, where readers can subscribe to receive new essays directly.

About Care, Actually

Care, Actually is a Substack newsletter by Robert Espinoza featuring personal essays on caregiving, the often-invisible issues that shape our society, and the lives we share. Drawing on his firsthand experience and nearly 30 years as a nationally recognized policy leader and storyteller, Robert examines why our caregiving systems fail so many people—and what it will take to repair them. At its core, the newsletter argues that caregiving is not marginal but essential, and that bridging the caregiving divide is a responsibility we all share.

Media Contact

Robert Espinoza | robert@espinozaadvisorygroup.com