Teppo Kroger Working Carers and Societal Wellbeing

Dept of Social Sciences & Philosophy
Working Carers and Societal Well-being:
insights from comparative
policy analysis in six countries
Teppo Kröger
International Conference
‘Carers and Work-Care Reconciliation’
University of Leeds
13 August 2013

Societal well-being
Standard of living vs. quality of life
Objective vs. subjective indicators
(a myriad of domains and individual items)
Amartya Sen: freedom & capability
Happiness studies
A classic definition by the Finnish sociologist
Erik Allardt from the 1970s
– Having
– Loving
– Being

Background: WOCAWO Project
WOCAWO research project (”Working Carers
and Caring Workers”, www.jyu.fi/wocawo)
Funded originally by the Academy of Finland
In close co-operation with
– Uni of Leeds (UK)
– Stockholm Uni (SWE)
– Uni of NSW (AUS)
– National Yang-Ming Uni et al. (TW)
– TMIG et al. (JP)

Background: WOCAWO Project
Extending discussion on work-family
reconciliation from childcare to other care
responsibilities
– Ageing parents/in-law
– Disabled children (non-adult/adult)
– Disabled/ill partners
Combining policy document analysis and
quantitative and qualitative data to
understand policies as well as experiences
Making comparisons both within and
between three welfare regimes

Population aged 65+ of total
population, 1950-2050 (%)

Employment rates of working age
women (15-64), 1970-2010 (%)

Employment rates of older workers,
1990-2010 (%)

Megatrends and family care
The global increase of female employment
follows the idea of ”adult worker model”
whereby every adult is expected to participate
in paid work
The same trend is seen in older workers
As a result of the supermegatrend of
population ageing, families are at the same
time facing larger care responsibilities
Two rare commodities at risk:
workforce and care!
Are welfare states doing anything to
secure them??

The liberal policy response
The UK was the first country to pay policy
attention to the needs of carers of adults with
care needs
Carers were recognised in national policy on
taxation and income support in the 1960s and
1970s,
They became the subject of official data
collection in the 1980s; and
In the 1990s and 2000s, they began to
acquire limited rights in national social care
and employment systems in.

The liberal policy response
Recently the policy focus in Britain has been
clearly on employment rights:
– 2002: parents of disabled children gained ‘right
to request’ flexible working.
– 2004: LAs must consider carers’ wish to work in
assessments.
– 2006: right to request flexible working extended
to carers of adults.
Australia has gradually followed Britain
– Promoting recently flexible employment
– Providing no clear rights to services (despite new
Carer Recognition Act & National Carer Strategy)

The East Asian policy response
The traditional East Asian policy response to
the problems of carers is: no response!
Based on Confucian family values, families
(aka women) take care of their members as
a part of ordinary family life
This principle is still stated in the Japanese
and Taiwanese Civil Code
However, an expectation that women would
be willing to sacrifice their professional lives
to take up unpaid caring, does not hold
anymore in Japan or Taiwan

The East Asian policy response
Japan made a massive policy turn in its LTC
policy from non-action to universal coverage
through its 2000 LTCI Act
This did not bring specific support to carers
but it recognised that the state has a major
responsibility for organising and financing
care for older people (incl. home care)
Rights of parents of young children have
been extended to carers in Japan (incl. a
93-day-per-year paid family care leave)
Taiwan has been slower in its policy
development but is now planning LTCI

The Nordic policy response
The Nordic welfare states were a long time
so focused on their formal service systems
that family care remained invisible
Only in the 1990s, linked to financial
difficulties of welfare systems and an alarm
about population ageing, carers started to
receive policy attention
Nowadays, there are carer payments,
respite care, peer support etc. available
However, these provisions still mostly
depend on individual LAs/NGOs

The Nordic policy response
Reconciliation of family care and paid
employment has been recognised as an
issue only in the 2010s
Universal service systems are naturally a
major support to carers (though their
universal character has suffered
recently…)
But still at the moment there is almost no
specific support available for working
carers in any Nordic country

Comparative notes (within regimes)
Both Finland and Sweden have tended to
ignore the needs of working carers of older
parents, who lack specific support
Finland offers less flexible and individual
support to parent-carers than Sweden
Partner-carers, again, face broadly similar
conditions in both countries: lack of
attention, limited personal time and large
variations in the flexibility available in the
workplace or in local services

Both England and Australia have taken
steps to support working carers of older
people by promoting flexible working and
modest unpaid emergency or care leave
Both have gradually given attention to
parent-carers (but not to partner-carers)
However, carers’ participation in paid work
is made difficult by these countries’ complex
benefit systems and limited service
provision

In the past two decades, Japan has rapidly
developed long-term care, care leaves and
workplace support for carers.
These have helped carers of parents as well
as carers of disabled children.
Comparable policy steps are under
discussion in Taiwan but not yet enacted.
Some formal services are available in
Taiwan but primarily families turn to informal
networks and migrant care workers.

Comparative notes (between regimes)
Despite many differences, all six states
– now expect disability, illness and extreme
old age to be ever-present features of their
societies
– recognise the importance of enabling
women (and men) to participate in paid
work
– are beginning to reshape their social
arrangements and systems accordingly

Comparative notes (between regimes)
All six states now provide at least some
support for some family carers
– Some limited employment rights and
flexibility
– Modest financial support or
compensation
– Some types of respite care and other
support services

Societal well-being (Allardt)
Having
– Income
– Housing
– Employment
– Education
– Health
Loving
– Local community
– Family
– Friendships
Being
– Status
– Irreplaceability
– Political resources
– Meaningful free time

Caring and well-being
Caring is about Having
– Income: carers face a high poverty risk, esp. without work
– Housing: caring places specific requirements on housing
– Employment: carers need to be supported to be able to stay in work
– Education: carers’ professional education is a major investment
– Health: health costs of caring have to be eradicated
Caring is about Loving
– Local community: social participation is a human right, also for carers
– Family: caring out of emotional attachment instead of moral obligation
– Friendships: friends give support, not to be expected to provide caring
Caring is about Being
– Status: recognition as a working carer
– Irreplaceability: care is based on unique human relations
– Political resources: carers are citizens and voters
– Meaningful free time: more to life than caring and working?

Conclusion
Despite above-mentioned positive developments,
most family carers in all six nations still care
without support and bear the pressure of work–
care reconciliation at the individual level
– their well-being continues to be seriously
threatened, which then jeopardizes the well-being
of their families and the well-being of our
societies
More action is needed if the availability of
workforce and the availability of care are to
be secured in our countries!

Teppo Kroger Working Carers and Societal Wellbeing

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