Overview

Abstract (English)

The purpose of this project was to better understand the interplay between individuals’ caregiving and employment across their life course and the cumulative risks to employment, financial security and well-being that caregivers face. Relying on the Taxonomy of Economic Costs of Care for Family/Friend Caregivers, developed as part of a companion project to this one, and data from the 2007 cycle of Statistics Canada’s General Social Survey on family, social support, work and retirement transitions of mid-life and older Canadians, we examined Canadians’ caregiving trajectories and risk factors for experiencing care-related employment consequences. Our analyses verified previous findings that caregiving is an increasingly common experience, one that is likely to be experienced by the majority of Canadians at some time during their lives; that most caregivers are employed and most of these are employed full time; and that caregivers commonly accommodate their employment to care demands. Those most at risk of experiencing care-related employment consequences, such as absenteeism, working fewer hours for pay, and being out of the labour force, include: women (especially those caring for a disabled child); men caring for a spouse; those approaching retirement age; those in poorer health; and those spending more time performing care tasks (women spending more than 20 hours per week on care tasks; men spending as few as 10 hours per week caregiving). Care-related employment consequences have implications for the economic security of caregivers, but also important downstream implications for employers, labour market sustainability and the health of the economy in general. At a time when population aging is expected to result in future skilled labour shortages as well as increased demands on family/friend caregivers, these labour market implications cannot be ignored.

Abstract (French)

Please note that abstracts only appear in the language of the publication and might not have a translation.