SACRAMENTO - Kevin McCarthy, the state Assembly's top Republican, has joined Assemblywoman Patty Berg's effort to protect a $500 tax credit for people who care for their aging or ailing family members.

"I'm proud to be a co-author of this important measure, which only begins to realize the real cost of care giving," said McCarthy, R-Bakersfield. "The selfless act of caring for an elderly or ailing relative is deserving of this type of financial break."

Assembly Bill 298, by Berg, D-Eureka, would extend the Caregivers Tax Credit until the year 2010. Unless the bill becomes law, the credit, first authorized in 2000, would expire this year.

The Caregiver Tax Credit is for people who take care of an adult or child who needs substantial assistance to get through a day, often requiring help with bathing, eating and getting dressed.

"I'm very happy to have Republican Leader McCarthy's support on this," said Berg. "I'm glad we agree that these people do their families and this state a great service."

Many caregivers are parents, spouses or adult children. The Caregivers Credit serves to either offset a tax debt, or to increase a tax refund. The tax credit helps alleviate the financial strain of care-giving, while at the same time sending a message that the care family members provide is a valuable service.

"Without this volunteer help, a lot more people would be placed in nursing homes or institutions," Berg said.

There are an estimated 2.9 million caregivers in California. Experts say that number will jump to 4 million within a few years. Without family caregivers, many older people would not be able to stay in their own homes.

If California's family caregivers were paid the typical wage of a home health aide of $8 an hour, the cost of care-giving would be $22.1 billion a year. Based on this low wage, the average caregiver provides more than $7,000 of care per year.

Using this estimate, the cost of caring for a person in the late stages of Alzheimer's Disease would be at least $36,000 a year. The typical caregiver is female, married, in her mid-forties, and a high school graduate.