Life course pathways into intergenerational caregiving

Abstract

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.