Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-m6dg7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T11:08:10.865Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Combining employment and care-giving: how differing care intensities influence employment patterns among middle-aged women in Germany

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 November 2018

Nadiya Kelle
Nadiya Kelle*
Affiliation:
German Center of Gerontology (DZA), Berlin, Germany
*
Email: nadiya.kelle@dza.de
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Given an ageing population and increased participation by women in the labour force, the relationship between unpaid care and the availability of women to the labour force is gaining in importance as an issue. This article assesses the impact of unpaid care on transitions into employment by women aged between 45 and 59 years. It uses the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) from the years 2001–2014 to estimate Cox regression models for 6,201 employed women. The results indicate that women with higher caring responsibilities and women with lower caring responsibilities are heterogeneous in terms of the socio-economic characteristics that they exhibit: higher-intensity care providers tend to have a lower level of educational attainment and a weaker attachment to the labour force than women with less-intensive caring responsibilities. Furthermore, while women with more-intensive caring roles are highly likely to exit the labour market altogether, female carers with less-intensive roles seem to be able to combine work and care better. These results highlight the importance of providing more affordable institutional and professional care services, especially for low- and medium-income families.

Keywords

care-givingemployment transitionsevent history analysisGermanywomen's labour market participation
Type
Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 40 , Issue 5 , May 2020 , pp. 925 - 943
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bamford, C, Gregson, B, Farrow, G, Buck, D, Dowswell, T, McNamee, P, Bond, J and Wright, K (1998) Mental and physical frailty in older people: the costs and benefits of informal care. Ageing & Society 18, 317–354.Google Scholar
Bertelsmann Stiftung (2017) Anteil der über 80-Jährigen an der Gesamtbevölkerung 2009 und 2030 [Share of Over-80s in the Total Population in 2009 and 2030]. Available at https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/204738/umfrage/prognose-zum-bevoelkerungsanteil-ueber-80-jahre-in-deutschland/.Google Scholar
Bittman, M, Fast, JE, Fisher, K and Thomson, C (2004) Making the invisible visible: the life and time(s) of informal caregivers. In Folbre, N and Bittman, M (eds), Family Time: The Social Organization of Care. London: Routledge, pp. 69–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blossfeld, H-P, Golsch, K and Gotz, R (2007) Event History Analysis with Stata. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.Google Scholar
Borg, C and Hallberg, IR (2006) Life satisfaction among informal caregivers in comparison with non-caregivers. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences 20, 427–438.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bundesministerium für Gesundheit (2017 a) Zahlen und Fakten zur Pflegeversicherung. Available at http://www.bmg.bund.de/themen/pflege/zahlen-und-fakten-zur-pflegeversicherung.html.Google Scholar
Bundesministerium für Gesundheit (2017 b) Neue Pflegegrade seit 2017. Available at https://www.pflegestaerkungsgesetz.de/finanzielle-leistungen/neue-pflegegrade-seit-2017/.Google Scholar
Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (2016) Datenreport 2016 – Bevölkerungsvorausberechnungen und zukünftige Entwicklungen. Available at http://www.bpb.de/nachschlagen/datenreport-2016/225405/zukuenftige-entwicklung.Google Scholar
Carmichael, F and Charles, S (2003) Benefit payments, informal care and female labour supply. Applied Economics Letters 10, 411–415.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cox, DR (1972) Regression models and life tables. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society 34B, 187–220.Google Scholar
Dannefer, D (2003) Cumulative advantage/disadvantage and the life course. Cross-fertilizing age and social science theory. Journals of Gerontology 58B, 327–337.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dentinger, E and Clarkberg, M (2002) Informal caregiving and retirement timing among men and women: gender and caregiving relationships in late midlife. Journal of Family Issues 23, 857–879.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dieckhoff, M, Gash, V, Mertens, A and Romeu Gordo, L (2016) A stalled revolution? What can we learn from women's drop-out to part-time jobs, a comparative analysis of Germany and the UK. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility 46B, 129–140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DiPrete, TA and Eirich, GM (2006) Cumulative advantage as a mechanism for inequality: a review of theoretical and empirical developments. Annual Review of Sociology 32, 271–297.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elder, GH Jr (1999) Children of the Great Depression: Social Change in Life Experience, 25th Anniversary Edn. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Eurostat (2017) Population Structure and Ageing. Available at http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Population_structure_and_ageing.Google Scholar
Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (2006) Latest Research and Model Projects Concerning Dementia. Available at https://www.bmfsfj.de/blob/78990/1bf409b349176b541020c169a6d88f7d/demenz-englisch-data.pdf.Google Scholar
Finch, J and Mason, J (1990) Filial obligations and kin support for elderly people. Ageing & Society 10, 151–175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finch, J and Mason, J (1993) Negotiating Family Responsibilities. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Geyer, J and Schulz, E (2014) Who cares? Die Bedeutung der informellen Pflege durch Erwerbstätige in Deutschland. DIW Wochenbericht 14, 294–301.Google Scholar
Giesecke, J (2006) Arbeitsmarktflexibilisierung und soziale Ungleichheit. Wiesbaden, Germany: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.Google Scholar
Gouldner, AW (1960) The norm of reciprocity: a preliminary statement. American Sociological Review 25, 161–178.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heitmueller, A (2007) The chicken or the egg? Endogeneity in labour market participation of informal carers in England. Journal of Health Economics 26, 536–559.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Henz, U (2004) The effects of informal care on paid-work participation in Great Britain: a lifecourse perspective. Ageing & Society 24, 851–880.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henz, U (2006) Informal caregiving at working age: effects of job characteristics and family configuration. Journal of Marriage and Family 68, 411–429.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Institut für Demoskopie Allensbach (2010) Monitor Familienleben. Einstellungen und Lebensverhältnisse von Familien Ergebnisse einer Repräsentativbefragung – Berichtsband. Available at http://www.ifd-allensbach.de/uploads/tx_studies/7550_Monitor_Familienleben_2010.pdf.Google Scholar
Kaschowitz, J (2015) Der Einfluss der Pflegeverantwortung von Frauen auf das Arbeitsangebot ihrer Partner – Eine Untersuchung mit dem SOEP (SOEP Papers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research No. 780). Available at https://www.diw.de/documents/publikationen/73/diw_01.c.512454.de/diw_sp0780.pdf.Google Scholar
Keck, W (2012) Die Vereinbarkeit von häuslicher Pflege und Beruf. Bern: Verlag Hans Huber.Google Scholar
Keck, W (2016) Was kommt nach der Pflege? Die Pflege eines Angehörigen senkt Beschäftigungschancen von Pflegepersonen nachhaltig. Sozialer Fortschritt 65, 112–119.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kelle, N, Simonson, J and Romeu Gordo, L (2017) Is part-time employment after childbirth a stepping-stone into full-time work? A cohort study for East and West Germany. Feminist Economics 23, 201–224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
King, D and Pickard, L (2013) When is a carer's employment at risk? Longitudinal analysis of unpaid care and employment in midlife in England. Health & Social Care in the Community 21, 303–314.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leopold, T, Raab, M and Engelhardt, H (2014) The transition to parent care: costs, commitments, and caregiver selection among children. Journal of Marriage and Family 76, 300–318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lilly, MB, Laporte, A and Coyte, PC (2007) Labor market work and home care's unpaid caregivers: a systematic review of labor force participation rates, predictors of labor market withdrawal, and hours of work. Milbank Quarterly 85, 641–690.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Matthews, SH (2002) Sisters and Brothers/Daughters and Sons: Meeting the Needs of Old Parents. Bloomington, IN: Unlimited Publishing.Google Scholar
Meng, A (2009) Informal home care and labor force participation of household members. RWI Essen, Ruhr Economic Papers 152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meng, A (2013) Informal home care and labor-force participation of household members. Empirical Economics 44, 959–979.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Naegele, G (2014) 20 Jahre Verabschiedung der Gesetzlichen Pflegeversicherung. Eine Bewertung aus sozialpolitischer Sicht (WISO Diskurs, Expertisen und Dokumentationen zur Wirtschafts- und Sozialpolitik). Bonn: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.Google Scholar
Pavalko, EK and Artis, JE (1997) Women's caregiving and paid work: causal relationships in late midlife. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 52B, 170–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Principi, A and Perek-Białas, J (2011) The Reconciliation of Employment and Eldercare: A Secondary Data Analysis. Report for the Carers@Work project. Available at http://www.carersatwork.tu-dortmund.de/download/Carers@work_SDA.pdf.Google Scholar
Schmidt, M and Schneekloth, U (2011) Abschlussbericht zur Studie ‘Wirkungen des Pflege-Weiterentwicklungsgesetzes’. Available at http://www.tns-infratest.com/SoFo/_pdf/2011_Abschlussbericht_Wirkungen_des_Pflege-Weiterentwicklungsgesetzes.pdf.Google Scholar
Schneider, T, Drobnic, S and Blossfeld, H-P (2001) Pflegebedürftige Personen im Haushalt und das Erwerbsverhalten verheirateter Frauen. Zeitschrift für Soziologie 30, 362–383.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schober, PS (2014) Parental leave and domestic work of mothers and fathers: a longitudinal study of two reforms in West Germany. Journal of Social Policy 43, 351–372.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schulz, E (2012) Das deutsche Pflegesystem ist im EU-Vergleich unterdurchschnittlich finanziert. DIW Wochenbericht 79, 10–16.Google Scholar
Spiess, CK and Schneider, AU (2003) Interactions between care-giving and paid work hours among European midlife women, 1994 to 1996. Ageing & Society 23, 41–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Statistisches Bundesamt (2015) Pflegestatistik 2013. Pflege im Rahmen der Pflegeversicherung, Deutschlandergebnisse. Wiesbaden. Available at https://www.destatis.de/DE/Publikationen/Thematisch/Gesundheit/Pflege/PflegeDeutschlandergebnisse5224001139004.pdf?__blob=publicationFile.Google Scholar
Statistisches Bundesamt (2017) Erwerbstätigkeit von Frauen: Deutschland mit dritthöchster Quote in der EU. Available at https://www.destatis.de/Europa/DE/Thema/BevoelkerungSoziales/Arbeitsmarkt/ArbeitsmarktFrauen.html.Google Scholar
Trappe, H, Pollmann-Schult, M and Schmitt, C (2015) The rise and decline of the male breadwinner model: institutional underpinnings and future expectations. European Sociological Review 31, 230–242.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Triantafillou, J, Naiditch, M, Repkova, K, Stiehr, K, Carretero, S, Emilsson, T, Di, P, Rastislav, S, Brichtova, BL and Ceruzzi, F (2010) Informal care in the long-term care system. Interlinks, Athens and Vienna, European Overview Paper. Available at https://www.euro.centre.org/downloads/detail/768.Google Scholar
Unterhofer, U, Welteke, C and Wrohlich, K (2017) Elterngeld hat soziale Normen verändert. DIW-Wochenbericht 84, 659–667.Google Scholar
Wagner, GG, Frick, J and Schupp, J (2007) The German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP): scope, evolution and enhancements. Schmollers Jahrbuch 125, 139–169.Google Scholar
Windzio, M (2013) Regressionsmodelle für Zustände und Ereignisse. Eine Einführung. Wiebaden, Germany: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Kelle supplementary material

Appendix

Download Kelle supplementary material(File)
File 202.2 KB