Addressing the Stress of Work and Elder Caregiving of the Graying Workforce: The Moderating Effects of Financial Strain on the Relationship Between Work‐Caregiving Conflict and Psychological Well‐Being

Abstract

Human resource policies and practices must consider the issues associated with an aging workforce, and, more specifically, the stress experienced by those involved in caring for elders. This study examined such stress by studying the relationship between work–elder caregiving conflict and well‐being, as well as the role of perceived financial need in moderating that relationship. The sample included 583 women who worked full‐time and had significant elder caregiving responsibilities. The analysis showed that work interfering with caregiving (WIC) was significantly associated with both positive and negative affect, but caregiving interfering with work (CIW) was not significantly associated with either. Perceived financial need decreased older women's psychological well‐being and moderated the relationship between work–elder caregiving conflict and psychological well‐being such that the negative effect of WIC was stronger for older women with higher perceived financial need, while CIW decreased the well‐being of older women with lower perceived financial need but not for those with higher need. The results stress the importance of considering elder care as a source of work‐family conflict when managing the aging workforce as well as suggest a way to attenuate the negative effect of work‐family conflict by managing the perception of financial resources and needs of the employees. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

FSSBs and Elderly Care: Exploring the Role of Organizational Context on Employees’ Overall Health and Work–Family Balance Satisfaction

“…With regard to the role of the subordinates' elderly care responsibilities, our findings reveal that the positive association between FSSBs and the subordinates' overall health strengthens in subordinates who have more elderly care responsibilities. This finding is in line with the research conceptualizing elderly care as a hindering situation, which requires compensation with additional resources from work to enable these employees to deal with stress associated with elder care (Kim & Gordon, 2014;Kossek et al, 2017). Indeed, in their recent review on elderly care responsibilities, Calvano and Dixon (2015) show that taking care of the elderly is resource depleting and that supportive resources at work may create an enrichment effect for these employees, who deal with elderly care.…”

“…By conceptualizing elderly care as a resource that generates energy and positive effects for the caregiver (Ten Brummelhuis & Bakker, 2012), we contribute to recent research which has started to highlight the importance of caregiving needs as boundary conditions and contextual elements in FSSB research (e.g., Bagger & Li, 2014;Russo et al, 2015) as well as to broader work-family literature Kossek et al, 2017). Yet, we depart from recent research (e.g., Kim & Gordon, 2014) in turning the limelight to both supervisors' and subordinates' elderly care responsibilities and argue how experiencing such challenging family conditions might generate positive personal resources and translate into enhanced work experiences for subordinates , Hayes, 2013, Hobfoll, 2002.…”

“…The W-HR suggests that the benefits associated with certain resources are boosted when aligned with personal resources such as resilience, self-confidence, or positive selfevaluations. In the context of this study, elder caregiving can be among the most challenging family responsibilities, since-although it can be rewarding-it can also be physically and emotionally taxing (Kim & Gordon, 2014). Yet, dealing with it can lead to the generation of personal resources, such as empathy and taking the perspective of other people's needs.…”

General mental ability, conscientiousness, and the work–family interface: A test of mediating pathways

“…For example, a parent who is working toward a project deadline can pay a babysitter to take care of his/her children so that he/she can focus on work activities without distractions. Meanwhile, financial resources may generate psychological and affective benefits that enhance one's ability to engage in work and family domains (Kim & Gordon, ). The linkages between family finance and work–family conflict and enrichment have been documented in prior research (Lawrence, Halbesleben, & Paustian‐Underdahl, ).…”

The effects of offering flexible work practices to employees with unpaid caregiving responsibilities for elderly or disabled family members

“…Furthermore, employees with caregiving responsibilities often report conflict between these roles (Dugan et al, ). This conflict detrimentally affects psychological well‐being (Kim & Gordon, ) and leads to job withdrawal (Peng, Jex, Zhang, Ma, & Matthews, 2020). Depression, anxiety, and resultant turnover are especially problematic for organizations as employees with caregiving responsibilities are more likely to be highly experienced and costly to replace.…”