Informal Elderly Caregiving and Time Spent on Leisure: Evidence from Time Use Survey

Abstract

This paper examines the risk of time poverty defined as leisure participation among informal caregivers of adults and older people. We draw on the most recent time use survey conducted in Poland, which incorporated more than 28,000 households in 2013. We assess the extent to which caregivers are more likely to experience shortages of time spent on physical activity, hobbies, and social life. Additional information about respondents’ time preferences allows us to examine not only the objective and relative time deficits of caregivers, but also the subjective and expressed ones. We distinguish between co-resident caregivers and those living outside the household of care recipients, simultaneously accounting for the differences between male and female caregivers, as well as care provided during working days (Monday-Friday), and that provided on weekends (Saturday-Sunday). Our results indicate that caregivers for adults are in general more likely to allocate less time to physical activity, hobbies, and their social lives. This effect, however, is observed primarily among co-resident caregivers, both male and female. The leisure time of caregivers is more noticeably affected during weekends than on working days. Concurrently, caregivers are more likely to admit that they wish to spend more time on different forms of leisure activity. This confirms the hypothesis of a trade-off between time allocated to elderly care and that allocated to self-care, which can be detrimental to the health, life satisfaction, and wellbeing of informal caregivers.

Análise da qualidade de vida e sobrecarga de cuidadores familiares de idosos assistidos pela atenção domiciliar

“…Os cuidadores familiares, principalmente os que residem no mesmo domicílio que o usuário, são mais propensos a não realizar atividades físicas e de lazer, bem como relatam que não possuem tempo para realizar hobbies, ter vida social e praticar o autocuidado, o que pode ser prejudicial à saúde e bem-estar (Rokicka & Zajkowska, 2020). Realizar atividades físicas e/ou de lazer está intimamente relacionado ao envelhecimento saudável (Aktürk, Aktürk & Erci, 2019) e pode efetivamente aumentar a capacidade funcional, a QV e o bem-estar psicológico de um indivíduo (Zaleski, et al, 2016).…”

Effects of physical activity interventions for caregivers of adults: A meta-analysis.

“…Because caregivers often report lower levels of PA than noncaregivers (Rokicka & Zajkowska, 2020), efforts have been increasingly made to intervene in hopes of reducing burden and distress, as well as improving well-being and health. The findings from some of these PA intervention studies have been described/summarized in four previous reviews.…”

Extremely Distant and Incredibly Close: Physical Proximity, Emotional Attachment and Caregiver Burden

“…Geographically diverse caregiving samples may present with different caretaking responsibilities and unique needs and burdens associated with the physical proximity to their care recipient. Prior studies have found that those who live with their care recipient or very close to them experience high levels of burden and emotional distress, potentially resulting from greater competition between caretaking responsibilities and other time-demanding activities when co-residing or living within a proximal distance [ 23 , 24 ]. On the other hand, geographic distance can create additional burdens for what is already often stressful care work.…”