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VAM-Velferd, arbeid og migrasjon

Combining Work and Care for Older Parents

Alternative title: Hvordan kombinerer arbeidstakere jobb og omsorg for gamle foreldre?

Awarded: NOK 12.0 mill.

Project Number:

315428

Application Type:

Project Period:

2021 - 2024

Funding received from:

Partner countries:

The primary objective of CoWorkCare is to generate new knowledge on how employees' care obligations for their old parents affect their labour market participation, and to disseminate this knowledge to informed policymaking promoting extended and full-time working lives for employees. The background for the project is demographic changes that lead to an increased need for adult children to provide care for older parents in order to reduce the demand for elderly care services, while as many people as possible work full-time until reaching retirement age. The project is organized into 5 work packages. By analyzing register data, WP 1 investigates the effects of having a care needing parent on the children’s labour market participation. Two articles are currently in progress. In the first one, we are investigating what happens to children's employment activity during "critical phases," i.e., just before a parent's admission to a nursing home and just before a parent's death. In the second article, we are examining how employment activity is affected when parents experience health shocks, such as strokes and hip fractures. Preliminary findings indicate that, after a parental health shock, children experience an increase in sick leave and a slight decline in their income. WP 2 investigates employees' experiences of combining work and caregiving for old parents using a survey conducted in the spring of 2022. In total, 6049 respondents in the age group 35-67 years, who have one or both parents alive, participated in the survey. In the article "Help and Care for Older Parents in the Digital Society," published in the Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies in July 2023, findings are presented that shows that help with using new digital technology (managing smartphones, online banking, collecting digital information and having digital contact with the public etc), has become the most common type of help daughters and sons provide to old parents. Sons and daughters still provide various types of practical assistance, but very few provide personal care to their old parents. The parents' health, whether they lived alone or were residing in an institution, were the most significant factors determining whether and to what extent children provided practical assistance, administrative support (including digital assistance), and personal care. The survey shows little to no correlation between the children's gender, socio-economic background, the type of workplace where the children were employed, and caregiving for parents. Analysis presented in the paper "Caring for Older Parents in Norway – How Does It Affect Labor Market Participation and Absence from Work?" shows that providing care for old parents does not lead to reduced working hours (part-time employment) or exiting the labor market. However, caregiving does result in absence from work. Both paid and unpaid leave, as well as the sick leave system, were utilized to assist parents. In WP 3, we conducted case studies in four companies in different parts of the Norwegian labor market in 2022 and 2023 to examine conflicts of interest between employees and employers. Through qualitative interviews with 34 employees, four group interviews with union representatives, and four group interviews with managers, we explored what it means to care for one's own parents while being employed and how this is managed in the workplace. The overall picture is that managers and employers have little knowledge of the extent of employees in the company who have such caregiving responsibilities. Many employees feel that it is largely an individual responsibility to handle their current situation, and many of them are calling for more formal and rights-based arrangements. Different workplaces have varying working hours arrangements, and it varies whether employees have the ability to control their own workday. Demands for physical presence at work make it challenging for many to attend to their old parents, especially in terms of healthcare and caregiving services during daytime. Employees in more flexible positions are the group that most frequently engage in caregiving tasks within regular working hours. Although workplace flexibility allows for combining work and caregiving, we also see that flexibility can have a downside, as the total workload can become significant when employees compensate for daytime absences with evening work. In WP 4, we conducted equivalent case studies in a sector in Sweden and Denmark in 2023. The findings align closely with those in Norway, suggesting minimal differences among the Nordic countries. Based on the findings, the research group are discussing policy with stakeholders, representing the largest Labour union organisation, The Confederation of Norwegian Enterprises, the capital (Oslo) and The Centre for Senior policy, in WP 5. Web: https://uni.oslomet.no/coworkcare/

The primary objective of the project is to generate new knowledge on how senior employees' care obligations for their older parents affect their labour market participation, and to disseminate this knowledge to informed policymaking promoting extended and full-time working lives for employees who give care to older parents. Trends in population ageing constitute a potentially important policy dilemma with respect to the organization of elderly care. On the one hand, the probable rise in care requirements, in combination with the challenges related to the fiscal sustainability of the welfare state, suggest that we need to mobilize family resources in order to provide long-term care for older people. On the other hand, the mobilization of family resources may make it difficult for caregivers to participate fully in the labour market, and this may again undermine the fiscal sustainability. This project will identify which employees with parents in need of care are at risk of exiting the labour market, increasing their use of part- time work, and using insurance benefits. The project will examine the significance of individual characteristics, enterprises characteristics in different sectors and industries, and family context. The theoretical framework is the conflict of interests between increasing needs for care and a relatively lack of people participating in the labour marked. This conflict of interest will be investigated at micro-level (between care giving employees and employers) and at macro level (between the welfare state and the labour marked). The study will adopt a mixed-method approach and apply both quantitative and qualitative methods. We will combine analyses of uniquely rich administrative population registers, qualitative data and survey data methods within a multidisciplinary research framework. Researchers from the fields of economy, political science and sociology will collaborate in the project.

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Funding scheme:

VAM-Velferd, arbeid og migrasjon