Strategies of Informal Caregivers to Adapt Paid Work

Abstract

Informal caregiving, meaning taking health-related care of an older and/or disabled person in the personal network, often has consequences for paid work. Classically scholars focus on two strategies of informal caregivers to adapt employment: stopping and reducing working hours. Two other, but neglected, plausible strategies may similarly have career consequences, namely changing jobs and becoming self-employed. We first assess the theoretical idea that a work-care conflict is a condition for choosing a work adaption strategy. Second, we theoretically and empirically explore a life course (i.e., timing) and gender perspective on strategies to adapt paid work. We use detailed Dutch retrospective data on informal caregiving, collected within LISS panel (N=3,676 caregiving episodes of 2,114 caregivers). Based on multilevel logistic regression models, we find that caregivers who felt that they had difficulties combining work and care, were more likely to choose any strategy. Especially caregivers who started to provide care at the age of 24 or younger were more likely to reduce working hours or change jobs. In the early family formation stage (25-34 years), women were more likely to reduce working hours, while in early middle age (45-54 years) men were more likely to stop working.

Informal care trajectories over the lifecourse in the Netherlands

“…Since the partial lockdown may have affected informal care provision, it was checked whether the response patterns of respondents who participated in the survey in the second half of March significantly differed from those who participated in the first half of March. No relevant differences were found (for more details, see Raiber et al, 2021). 2 Dropping carers with eight or more care episodes reduced the average number of episodes per carer from 2.72 to 2.44 in the current sample.…”

Verandering in de intensiteit van mantelzorg tijdens de eerste COVID-19 lockdown in 2020 in Nederland

“…Relevant te vermelden is dat in de onderhavige studie de groep respondenten die ná het ingaan van de eerste lockdown de vragenlijst heeft ingevuld niet significant andere antwoorden heeft gegeven op de voor deze studie relevante vragen dan de groep die de vragenlijst vóór de lockdown heeft ingevuld (Raiber, Verbakel & Visser, 2021). In juli 2020 hebben we een vervolgmeting gehouden onder de respondenten die in maart ten minste één huidige mantelzorgrelatie hadden (Dataset 'Retrospective informal care career: Follow-up measurement'; n = 1.394, respons is 88,7%) om hen te bevragen over de invloed van de coronacrisis op het geven van hulp.…”