How does she do it all? Effects of education on reconciliation of employment and informal caregiving among Austrian women

Rodrigues, Ricardo; Ilinca, Stefania

doi:10.1111/spol.12706

Cited by 8 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…A recent European study showed that women with lower education were more likely to provide high intensity care than men [ 68 ] and even if our study did not approach the differences between educational background within WKCs, our results show that more women than men engaged in long weekly care hours and reported a decreased ability to work or study due to informal care provision, which might affect their educational opportunities in the long run.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 69%

Informal care provision among male and female working carers: Findings from a Swedish national survey

et al. 2022

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Introduction Informal carers in paid employment–working carers (WKCs)—have complex support needs. However, little is known about WKCs’ pattern of informal care provision, the support they receive, the impact providing care has on their employment, and how these vary between male and female WKCs. This study describes the pattern of informal care provision and received support among Swedish WKCs. Research method/Design The study was a cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey of a stratified random sample of the Swedish population aged 18 or over. The questionnaire addressed the type and extent of informal care provided, support received and the impact of care provision on employment. Of the 30,009 people who received the questionnaire, 11,168 (37.3%) responded, providing an analytic sample of 818 (7.32% of respondents) employed or self-employed informal carers. Findings A typical Swedish WKC was a middle-aged female, providing weekly or daily care to a non-cohabitant parent, who experiences care as sometimes demanding and receives no formal support as a carer. Female WKCs were more likely than males to care alone and with higher intensity, to report a need for help in meeting their care-recipient’s needs, and to experience care as demanding. Approximately 17% of WKCs reported their employment had been affected due to caring, 40% their ability to work, and 31% their career development opportunities. Female WKCs’ ability to work was affected more than males’, and they were more commonly prevented from applying for work. Conclusion Swedish female WKCs compared to males provide more hours of informal care, across more care domains, more often alone. This places them in a challenging situation when combining paid work and care. Greater recognition of the challenges faced by WKCs is required in Sweden and other countries, as are policies to reduce gender inequalities in informal care provision in this group.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 69%

Informal care provision among male and female working carers: Findings from a Swedish national survey

et al. 2022

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“…Caregiving may therefore be associated with previously existing inequalities (e.g. in income and health) and there is indeed some evidence that family caregiving, particularly of intense form, may be becoming increasingly concentrated on disfavoured groups (Rodrigues & Ilinca, 2021). Our findings reinforce the view that women may be particularly vulnerable to such accumulation of disadvantages.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

Life course pathways into intergenerational caregiving

Rodrigues¹,

Hrast²,

Kadi³

et al. 2021

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Background and objectives:We develop a framework for the analysis of pathways into family caregiving to older people defined around life course concepts such as key turning events in life, cumulative processes and linked lives within the family realm that influence decisions around intergenerational family caregiving.Research design and methods:Using Framework Analysis, we analyse semi-structured qualitative interviews from a sample of dyads (older cared-for adults and their main family carers) in Austria (N=24) and Slovenia (N=52). Data was collected in 2019 through a purposive sampling strategy that included dyads from a differentiated socio-economic background and gender composition. Results:The analysis reveals the existence of four non-exclusive pathways into caregiving. One pathway is associated with single turning events occurring in family or work trajectories of carers that expanded the possibilities for caregiving later in life. Another pathway referred to cumulative processes that later influenced transitions into caregiving, such as personal biographies marked by weak labour market attachment or previous occupations as professional carers. The third pathway is characterized by continued and sustained exchanges of support within families that cement reciprocal ties that underpin caregiving at later stages. In the fourth pathway, life trajectories of siblings, but also family relationships and conflicts constrained carers into their role. Discussion and Implications:Decisions regarding caregiving within families can be best understood as processes, linked to developments in other trajectories in carers’ lives, as much as to internal family dynamics and relationships. Becoming a carer may be itself the result of intertwined accumulated vulnerabilities.

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“…This reversal of the gender care gap for care provided outside the household used to happen much earlier and has been delayed for later-born cohorts due to the cohort effects we show for men. The decreasing likelihood of caregiving outside the household for later-born cohorts of men could be linked to increases in statutory retirement age that have led to the postponement of the age at which men shift their time to unpaid caregiving ( Rodrigues & Ilinca, 2021 ). The occurrence of caregiving to someone outside the household has apparently remained the same among women, even when faced with similar increases in the statutory retirement age.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, as countries moved to raise retirement age, an increasing share of women in their “encore years” are postponing retirement and remaining in full-time employment. This may reduce their availability to provide care outside their household ( Rodrigues & Ilinca, 2021 ). In addition, current cohorts of women approaching retirement age have experienced a combination of delayed childbearing and increased longevity of their older relatives often spent in poor health, resulting in greater shared life years with older parents, as well as adult children ( Moen, 2016 ; Patterson & Margolis, 2019 ).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Cohort Trajectories by Age and Gender for Informal Caregiving in Europe Adjusted for Sociodemographic Changes, 2004 and 2015

Rodrigues

Rehnberg

Simmons

et al. 2023

The Journals of Gerontology: Series B

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Objectives We present a dynamic view of gender patterns in informal caregiving across Europe in a context of socio-demographic transformations. It aims to answer the following research questions: i) has the gender gap in informal caregiving changed; ii) if so, is this due to changes among women and/or men; iii) has the gender care gap changed differently across care regimes? Methods Multilevel growth curve models are applied to gendered trajectories of informal caregiving of a panel sample of 50+ Europeans, grouped into 5-year cohorts and followed across 5 waves of the SHARE survey, stratified by sex and adjusted for several covariates. Results For men in cohorts born more recently there is a decrease in the prevalence of informal care outside the household, while cohort trajectories for women are mostly stable. Prevalence of care inside the household has increased for later born cohorts for all without discernible changes to the gender care gap. Gender care gaps overall widened among later born cohorts in the Continental cluster, while they remained constant in Southern Europe, and narrowed in the Nordic cluster. Discussion We discuss the cohort effects found in the context of gender differences in employment and care around retirement age, as well as possible demographic explanations for these. The shift from care outside to inside the household, where it mostly consists of spousal care, may require different policies to support carers, whose age profile and possible care burden seems to be increasing.

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How does she do it all? Effects of education on reconciliation of employment and informal caregiving among Austrian women

Cited by 8 publications

References 39 publications

Informal care provision among male and female working carers: Findings from a Swedish national survey

Informal care provision among male and female working carers: Findings from a Swedish national survey

Life course pathways into intergenerational caregiving

Cohort Trajectories by Age and Gender for Informal Caregiving in Europe Adjusted for Sociodemographic Changes, 2004 and 2015

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