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Employment and Informal Care: Sustaining Paid Work and Caregiving in Community and Home-based Care

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Abstract

Informal care provides the often hidden foundations of policies promoting care in the community and Ageing in Place. This paper examines the current impasse concerning those who are employed and seek to provide care, canvassing current and future possibilities for finding a way through the existing conflict between sustaining employment and providing informal care in the home. Focusing on the issues that emerge regarding support of older (aged) care recipients, the paper first considers the demographic, economic and democratic and governmental policy causes of the current problems. It then examines the emerging care gap expressed through the joint crisis of informal and formal care. The final section considers the solutions proposed to help re-embed care in the societies of the 21st century. These include developments related to the workplace and employment, as well as solutions concerned with providing extra services, expanding the care workforce, paying family caregivers and using technology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, and Centre for Research on Social Inclusion, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia

    Michael D. Fine

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  1. Michael D. Fine
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Correspondence to Michael D. Fine.

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This is a revised version of a paper first presented in the workshop ‘Keeping Older Workers in the Labour Force and Caring for a Family Member’ at the FICCDAT Caregiving conference, 5–8 June 2011, Toronto, Canada. I am grateful for the advice and encouragement of workshop participants and organizers, particularly Dr Jane Barratt of the International Federation of Aging. I also gratefully acknowledge permission to publish and the financial support provided by the Ministry for Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, (HRSDC). Responsibility for comments and for any errors remains with the author.

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Fine, M.D. Employment and Informal Care: Sustaining Paid Work and Caregiving in Community and Home-based Care. Ageing Int 37, 57–68 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12126-011-9137-9

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