The Effects of Eldercare Responsibilities on Employed Caregivers

The number of people in the older population will continue to grow as the decades progress. The most rapid increase expected would be between the years 2010 and 2030 when the “baby boom” generation reaches 65 years or older. By the year 2030, there will be about 70 million older persons, more than twice the number than for the year 1998. More and more people will live long enough to experience multiple chronic illnesses, disability, and dependency; in addition there will be more relatives in their fifties and sixties who will be facing the concern and expense of caring for them. Those over the age of 85 years are most likely to need help with activities of daily living such as dressing, bathing, and toileting; and instrumental activities of daily living such as meal preparation, shopping, transportation, and paying bills. Family members such as daughters-in-law, granddaughters, husbands, sons, and nieces and nephews, are the ones who provide the vast majority of help needed by the elderly. Those family members typically find themselves juggling responsibilities of their own work, their children and their elder relatives. The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of elder caregiving on caregivers employed outside the home and their work. Lazarus Stress and Coping Model provided the theoretical framework for this study. An Eldercare Survey Tool was given to employed caregivers to determine what types of caregiving are provided for the older adult, how many hours are spent on eldercare caregiving per * week, and to what extent emotional, physical, or financial burdens are experienced by the caregiver. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze and describe the answers to the questionnaire, including demographic information. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) which labels variables and provides parametric and non-parametric statistical procedures. The open-ended questions were analyzed using content analysis. The findings of this study suggest that employees who have caregiver responsibilities for older adults outside of work have issues that may affect their work and family life. This study suggests that caregiving does interfere with work life by employees having to go into work late, leaving early or taking time off during the day due to their caregiving responsibilities. The study also suggests that participants feel that they have experienced less time for family and have had to give up hobbies and vacations due to their caregiving responsibilities. The typical caregiver in this study was female, white, married, mid forties, and employed fulltime as a professional. The study also suggests that employees with eldercare responsibilities have both difficulties and rewards from their caregiving experience