From Executive Suite to Production Line

Abstract

It is now widely accepted that employee caregivers-in the main, women-need to make adjustments in or take time from their jobs in order to provide or oversee assistance required by elderly relatives. The absenteeism, lowered productivity, and job turnover noted by many employers in business group surveys have motivated a number of firms to seek ways to address the needs of this group of employees. To date, researchers studying work disruption among employee caregivers have given little attention to the ways in which employees in different types of jobs respond to their dual responsibilities toward employers and elders who require their assistance. Those investigating the ways in which caregivers accommodate these competing demands have speculated that blue- or pink-collar workers may differ from their white-collar counterparts in the kinds or intensity of work disruptions they face, but few studies have contained information on workers' jobs that would permit systematic analysis of this question. This article analyzes patterns of work accommodations among caregivers in the Survey of Informal Caregivers of the 1982 National Long Term Care Survey. Caregivers' occupations are classified as: (a) executive, professional, technical jobs (18%); (b) sales (8%) or service (23%) positions; (c) clerical jobs (19%); or (d) production line and other blue-collar positions (32%). The study concludes that because the approaches caregivers take to address the demands of elder care are quite diverse and vary with membership in occupational group, employers who wish to aid these employees will need to design a set of flexible policies and benefit packages.

Informal Caregiving at Working Age: Effects of Job Characteristics and Family Configuration

“…The author (2004) found that semiroutine and routine manual workers reported the strongest effect of caregiving on employment. Mutschler (1994), however, failed to find any significant differences in carers’ adjustments to provide care between the four occupational groups in her study.…”

“…The effects of the objective costs of caring are modified by the values of the potential carer. In addition, the objective costs of caring depend on the care needs, which is one of the most important predictors of a negative effect of caring on employment (Mutschler, 1994; Scharlach, Sobel, & Roberts, 1991; Stephens, Townsend, Martire, & Druley, 2001). Other important predictors such as caregiver’s health and support with caregiving can be subsumed under the personal characteristics of the carer, which influence both the subjective and the objective costs of caring.…”

Untitled

“…Many analyses show that there is a negative trade-off in terms of labour market participation if an employee takes on care responsibilities (Bolin et al 2008;Crespo 2007;Heitmueller 2006;Reichert & Naegele 1999;Schneider et al 2001;Spiess & Schneider 2003). Caregivers with intensive care responsibilities are more likely to reduce their working Caring for a parent while working in the German welfare regime time (Mutschler 1994;Sarasa 2008;Spiess & Schneider 2003). There are gender and class differences in the degree of this negative impact.…”

The Competing Demands of Paid Work and Parent Care

“…Caregiving causes employees to arrive late to work, leave early, miss work, or experience frequent work interruptions. Employed caregivers have been reported to quit jobs or be planning to do so, with percentages varying between 14% and 20% of employed caregivers (Brody et al 1987;Gibeau and Anastas 1989;Muttschler 1994;Petty and Friss 1987;Scharlach and Boyd 1989;Stone and Short 1990). Neal et al (1993) reported that in particular, multiple caregiving roles and working more hours contributed to absenteeism.…”