The ageing of the workforce suggests that many older adults will be combining work and care. While there is extensive evidence for the impact of informal care-giving on paid employment, there is less research on how work status may influence the provision of informal care. It has also yet to be established whether work preferences may influence the uptake of care-giving responsibilities, particularly for older workers. We investigated the impact of work status congruence on taking up informal care at two-year follow-up. A sample of 1,211 employed participants aged 55–70 years was surveyed over two consecutive waves. Involuntary part-time workers were more likely to provide care at Time 1 than involuntary full-timers, voluntary part-timers and voluntary full-timers. Participants were more likely to take up care if the opportunity costs of doing so were low, however, only for those whose preferences for more work were not met. There were no moderating effects of gender and economic living standards on the relationship between work status incongruence and provision of care-giving. Understanding the decision-making processes older workers undertake when taking up informal care are complex and must consider the influence of personal work preferences. These findings have implications for care and work-based policy given the importance of informal care in sustaining ageing-in-place policies.

Objective: To determine predictors of work ability and quality of life in a population of older working New Zealanders with and without an arthritis diagnosis. Methods: Participants aged 55-85 (Mean = 71 years) were drawn from the New Zealand Health, Work and Retirement study. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with a sample of N = 1154 (n = 696 with arthritis and matched sample (on gender only) of n = 458 without arthritis). Results: Older adults diagnosed with arthritis reported lower levels of work ability and poorer quality of life in comparison with older adults without arthritis. Pain and fatigue were associated with poorer outcomes for all participants. Pain moderated the relationship between arthritis and work ability. Conclusions: An ageing population will lead to an increase in older workers in the workforce. Chronic age-related diseases such as arthritis may impact older workers' ability to continue to work and enjoy a good quality of life.

Flexibility in the workplace has been suggested to promote prolonged employment among older workers. This study focuses on the question of whether the use of flexible work arrangements (FWAs) differs between caregivers and non-caregivers and how potential differences can be explained. Participants were 296 carers and 1611 non-carers (aged 55–70 years) who completed the 2018 Health, Work and Retirement survey and were in paid employment. Hierarchical regression was used to investigate caregiving as an independent predictor of use of FWAs after controlling for demographic and work-related variables. Results show that caregivers on average used more FWAs than non-caregivers, including flexible work hours, flexible schedules and time off. Differences in FWAs use between caregivers and non-caregivers cannot be explained by differences in socio demographic and work characteristics. The use of FWAs warrants attention in discussions about prolonged employment and reconciliation of care and work among older adults.

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Current, literature has found a negative relationship between caregiving responsibilities and paid employment. There are two possible causal explanations; people with low employment prospects self-select into care and caregiving is time-consuming therefore, it require carers to accommodate this by reducing work. While there is considerable work on the influences of caregiving on work, there is limited research investigating how employment influences informal caregiving decisions. We investigated longitudinal associations between work status preferences (over-employed, underemployed, satisfied) and informal caregiving among older adults in New Zealand. The present study also explored whether gender and perceived health moderated the relationship between work status preference and caregiving. The study used data provided by three waves of the New Zealand Health, Work and Retirement Study. The findings suggest that underemployed and overemployed participants were more prone to taking up caregiving compared to participants who were satisfied with their work status. Regression analyses revealed that females with poor self-reported health were most vulnerable to experience incongruent work status preferences. The direct effects of work status preference on willingness to care may imply conflict between policies promoting full time labour force participation and social welfare policies that are continuing to rely on family carers to support the community. This evidence has implications for care policy given the importance of informal care in sustaining ageing in place policies.