Forfatter: hgaut

Gautun, H. & Bratt, H. (2023). Help and Care to Older Parents in the Digital Society. Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies. https://doi.org/10.18291/njwls.13745

This study examines the extent and predictors of employees’ help and care to their old parents and aims to contribute to policy development enabling employees to combine full-time work and caregiving to parents.

Analyzing responses from 3332 Norwegian employees aged between 45 and 67 years with at least one living parent, we identified frequencies of different help and care types and tested competing predictors.

Assistance with digital technology was frequent, and various types of practical support were common, but personal care provision was rare. Parents’ health and parents living alone were substantial predictors. Public home care services seemed insufficient and were associated with employees providing more help and care.

The findings emphasize the family as a comprehensive care provider when the welfare state falls short. The study concludes that adult children play a critical role in helping older people cope with limited public services and challenges posed by the digital society.

One of the aims of this project is to get a better understanding of what it actually means for employees to combine work and care for ageing parents, and whether these experiences vary between different sectors of the labour market. To get to the lived experiences of informal caregivers who are juggling care obligations with a career, we have talked to employees, union representatives and employers at four different workplaces in Norway. These workplaces represent four different sectors of the Norwegian labour market. The four workplaces that was recruited for this study represents public administration, health care, retail and production. These sectors were chosen with the aim of securing a variety in workplaces that covers a wide range of the Norwegian labour market, and included workplaces with flexible work arrangements, fixed working hours and shift work.

In the span of nine months, from June 2022 to March 2023, we have spoken with 35 employees, 12 union representatives and 13 leaders. The employees we have spoken with have all willingly shared their personal experiences of work-life conflicts, the importance of support from their employers as well as the whish for further support. While the stories differ, they do show the important role that family care plays in filling gaps in the formal care system. Further, it also points at the balancing act of fulfilling your duties as a son or daughter as well as your duties at work. In this act, the importance of having an understanding leader becomes crucial.

October 13^th, 2022, Research Professor Heidi Gautun gave the presentation Help and care to older parents in the digitalised society. The seminar was organised by The Frisch Centre, UiO and took place at Lysebu hotel. The presentation presented findings from the data collected among 6049 respondents March and April 2022.

Gautun presented results of analysis showing how help and care vary dependent on 1) individual characteristics of the employees such as gender, age, working hours and socio-economic background, 2) parents’ health, 3) whether parents live alone or with a spouse/partner, 4) parents’ use of public elderly care services, and 5) in which industry the employees work.

June 13^th 2022, Research Professor Jardar Sørvoll gave the presentation «The Norwegian eldercare model’s key preconditions: housing, services, institutions and staffing” at the seminar: «Housing and services for older people». The seminar was organized by Norsk Selskap for Aldersforskning and took place at the Oslo Metropolitan University.  Sørvoll presented results from Norwegian Social Research’s survey on housing for seniors and The Norwegian Research’s Council project CoWorkCare. 

Sørvoll presented data on older peoples’ use and need for public eldercare services, collected in a survey conducted among 6049 informants in the CoWorkCare project in March and April 2022. Many of the informants requested services that would make it easier for their care-needing parents to live outside an institution. For instance, 43 % of the respondents in the survey who had mothers that received home care (practical help such as cleaning, washing clothes and/or other household tasks) from the municipality stated that the care their mothers received was insufficient.

Further, a total of 35% of those having mothers that didn’t receive home care services, responded that their mothers needed practical help in their homes from the municipality. Moreover, 25% stated that their mothers needed transport service – without receiving such service. Further, almost 20% reported that their mothers needed the following types of help: home nursing, visiting service, GP visits at home, safety alarms, day services at an elderly care center, and food delivery services. In addition, 13% answered that their mothers needed short-term stays in nursing homes.

The 26th Nordic Congress of Gerontology took place 8-10th June 2022 in Odense. https://www.26nkg.dk. From CoWorkCare Research Professor Heidi Gautun attended the congress. Heidi Gautun had a poster presentation showing some preliminary results from the survey investigating employees’ experiences on combining work and care for older parents. Altogether 6049 in the age group 35-67 years, having one or both parents alive, responded to the questionnaire in March and April 2022. The poster limits the analysis to ages 45 – 67 years (N = 4416).

The most common help offered to their parents were emotional support and help with managing new technologies (e.g., smartphone, online banking, digital information from authorities). To a lesser degree, the children provided care like nursing, dressing and help with medication.

A minority of those not working reported that providing care to their parents had an impact on their employment situation.

Likewise, a minority of those working part time reported that providing care to their parents had an impact on their choice to work part time. 

However, a majority of those both participating in the labour marked and providing care for their parents experienced conflicting demands of care provision and job obligations.