Informal Eldercare and Work-Related Strain

Abstract

This article lends support to both the "competing demands" and the "expansion" hypotheses. Commitment to eldercare can enhance work-related outcomes but entails work-related problems if care burden and time demands of eldercare are substantial. Thus, workers with eldercare responsibilities cannot be considered less productive from the outset. An individual assessment of their situation, considering the care and work setting, is required. Findings from this study support the design of workplace initiatives to uphold workers' productivity in general and bring specific attention to policies alleviating workers' eldercare burden.

Associations of eldercare and competing demands with health and work outcomes among manufacturing workers

“…Also, studies of work-family enrichment indicate that the work and family spheres can enhance one another (Carlson, Kacmar, Wayne, & Grzywacz, 2006), especially if employees have built a 'bank of trust' with managers and co-workers (Bernard & Phillips, 2007). To the extent that workers regard caregiving in a positive light, intrinsic enjoyment of care provision can spill over into work, consistent with role enrichment theory and the expansion hypothesis (Greenhaus & Powell, 2006;Trukeschitz, Schnieder, Muhlmann, & Ponocny, 2013).…”

The dynamics of social care and employment in mid-life

“…Much of the work on this topic has used cross-sectional data-sets, with individuals’ employment status and caring roles observed at only one point in time (Ciani 2012; Farkas and Himes 1997; Michaud, Heitmueller and Nazarov 2010; Trukeschitz et al 2013; Vlachantoni 2010). Recent studies using longitudinal data-sets allow the identification of changes in care-giving and employment status over time, informing the relationship between these roles within a lifecourse framework.…”

Combining informal care and paid work: The use of work arrangements by working adult-child caregivers in the Netherlands

“…Around a quarter of the working caregivers experience difficulties to combine work and care (de Boer, Broese van Groenou, & Keuzenkamp, ), resulting in high caregiver burden (Gordon, Pruchno, Wilson‐Genderson, Murphy, & Rose, ; Reid, Stajduhar, & Chappell, ; Wang, Shyu, Chen, & Yang, ), poor well‐being (Eldh & Carlsson, ; Reid et al., ; Stephens, Townsend, Martire, & Druley, ), increased work‐related strain (Trukeschitz, Schneider, Muhlmann, & Ponocny, ), or long‐term sickness absence (Mortensen et al., ). To facilitate caregivers to combine their care and work, specific work arrangements exist, such as taking time off, using formal care leave arrangements (e.g.…”