Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T16:16:58.341Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Caught in the Triangle: The Influence of Home, Work and Elder Location on Work-Family Balance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2010

Alun E. Joseph  and
Bonnie C. Hallman
Alun E. Joseph
Affiliation:
University of Guelph
Bonnie C. Hallman
Affiliation:
University of Guelph
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In this paper we investigate the geographical context in which employed caregivers provide assistance to their elderly relatives. Specifically, we examine the impact of the spatial arrangement of the employed caregiver's home, their workplace and the care recipient's home (the “locational triangle” alluded to in our title) on work-family balance. Analysis of data drawn from a national study of Work and Family conducted by the Canadian Aging Research Network (CARNET) indicates that the parameters of the locational triangle have discernable impacts on levels of perceived stress and interference and on the incidence of certain job effects and coping behaviours. The impacts of longer journey to work and increased distance from elderly relative(s) on stress and interference levels are seen to be bound up with the nature of family responsibilities. Location-based coping behaviours (considered or implemented in the six months leading up to the survey) are reported by 18 per cent of our sample of 595 employed caregivers, but are virtually confined to the home-elder axis of the location triangle. On the basis of our results, we advocate greater attention to the spatial context of work-family balance.

Résumé

Cet article étudie le contexte géographique dans lequel évoluent les soignants ayant un emploi et s'occupant d'un membre âgé de leur famille. Plus particulièrement, on y examine l'effet de la disposition spatiale du domicile du soignant, de son lieu de travail et du domicile du soigné (d'où «le triangle géographique» auquel le titre fait allusion) sur l'équilibre travail-famille. Une analyse de données tirées d'une recherche nationale sur le travail et la famille effectuée par le Réseau canadien de recherche sur le vieillissement (CARNET) indique que les paramètres du triangle géographique ont un impact certain sur le niveau de stress et d'entrave ressentis ainsi que sur le travail et le comportement d'adaptation. L'effet de déplacements plus longs au travail et de distances accrues depuis le domicile du parent âgé sur les niveaux de stress et d'entrave s'avère relié à la nature des responsabilités familiales. On a relevé des comportements d'adaptation géographique (envisagés ou mis en place dans les six mois de l'etude) chez 18 pour cent de l'échantillonnage de 595 soignants possédant un emploi; ils sont essentiellement centrés sur le point du triangle du parent aîné. Nos résultats nous amènent à prôner une attention spéciale au contexte spatial de l'équilibre famille-travail.

Keywords

Work and FamilyEldercareJob EffectsLocation-based CopingTravail et familleservices aux aînésincidence sur le travailcomportement d'adaptation géographique
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 15 , Issue 3 , Automne/Fall 1996 , pp. 393 - 412
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 1996

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

Abel, E. (1991). Who Cares for the Elderly? Public Policy and the Experience of Adult Daughters. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.Google Scholar
Abel, E., & Nelson, M. (1990). Circles of Care: Work and Identity in Women's Lives. Albany: State University of New York.Google Scholar
Baines, C., Evans, P., & Neysmith, S. (1991). Women's Caring: Feminist Perspectives in Social Welfare. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart.Google Scholar
Balbo, L. (1982). The servicing work of women and the capitalist state. In Zeitlin, M. (Ed.), Political Power and Social Theory, 3 (pp. 251–270). Greenwich: JAI Press.Google Scholar
Beaujot, R. (1991). Population Changes in Canada: The Challenges of Policy Adaptation. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart.Google Scholar
Brody, E. (1990). Women in the Middle: Their Parent-Care Years. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Brody, E., & Schoonover, C. (1986). Patterns of parent-care when adult children work and when they do not. The Gerontologist, 26, 372–381.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Canadian Aging Research Network, Work and Eldercare Research Group (CAR-NET). (1993). Work and Family — The Survey. Guelph, ON: Gerontology Research Centre, University of Guelph.Google Scholar
Chappell, N. (1991). Living arrangements and sources of caregiving. Journals of Gerontology, 46, 1–8.Google Scholar
Connidis, I.A., & Rosenthal, C.J. (1993). The impact of family composition on providing help to older parents: a study of employed adults. Presentation at 22nd Annual Scientific and Educational Meeting of the Canadian Association on Gerontology, Montreal.Google Scholar
Creedon, M.A., & Andrews, V.P. (1987). Corporate eldercare project — Issues for an aging America. In Creedon, M.A. (Ed.), Issues for an Aging America: Employees and Eldercare. Southport, CT: Creative Services Inc.Google Scholar
Duxbury, L., Higgins, C., & Lee, C. (1994). Work-family conflict: A comparison by gender, family type and perceived control. Journal of Family Issues, 15, 449–466.Google Scholar
Galambos, N.L., & Walters, B.J. (1992). Work hours, schedule inflexibility and stress in dual-earner spouses. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 24, 290–302.Google Scholar
Googins, B. (1991). Work/Family Conflicts: Private Lives — Public Responses. New York: Auburn House.Google Scholar
Gorey, K., Rice, R.W., & Brice, G.C. (1992). The prevalence of eldercare responsibilities among the work force population. Research on Aging, 14, 399–418.Google Scholar
Gottlieb, B.H., Kelloway, E.K., & Fraboni, M. (1994). Aspects of eldercare that place employees at risk. The Gerontologist, 34, 815–821.Google Scholar
Gutek, B.A., Searle, S., & Klepa, L. (1991). Rational versus gender role explanations for work-family conflict. Journal of Applied Psychology, 76, 560–568.Google Scholar
Hanson, S., & Pratt, G. (1990). Geographical perspectives on the occupational segregation of women. National Geographic Research, 6, 376–399.Google Scholar
Joseph, A.E., & Martin-Matthews, A. (1993). Growing old in aging communities. Journal of Canadian Studies, 28, 14–30.Google Scholar
Lee, G., Dwyer, J., & Coward, R. (1990). Residential location and proximity to children among impaired elderly parents. Rural Sociology, 55, 579–589.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MacBride-King, J.L. (1990). Work and Family: Employment Challenge of the '90s (Report No. 59–90). Ottawa: The Compensation Research Centre, The Conference Board of Canada.Google Scholar
Martin-Matthews, A., & Rosenthal, C. (1993). Balancing work and family in an aging society: the Canadian experience. In Maddox, G. & Lawton, M. (Eds.), Annual Review of Gerontology and Geriatrics: Focus on Kinship, Aging and Social Change (pp. 96–119). New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Matthews, S., & Rosner, T. (1988). Shared filial responsibility: the family as the primary caregiver. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 50, 185–195.Google Scholar
Medjuck, S., O'Brien, M., & Tozer, C. (1992). From private responsibility to public cost: women and the cost of caregiving to elderly kin. Atlantis, 17, 46–58.Google Scholar
Montgomery, R., & Hirshorn, B.A. (1991). Current and future family help with longterm care needs of the elderly. Research on Aging, 13, 171–204.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Montgomery, R., & Kamo, Y. (1989). Parent care by sons and daughters. In Mancini, J. (Ed.), Aging Parents and Adult Children (pp. 213–230). Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.Google Scholar
Myles, J. (1991). Editorial: Women, the welfare state and caregiving. Canadian Journal on Aging, 10(2), 82–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neal, M.B., Chapman, N.J., Ingersoll-Dayton, B., Emlen, A.C., & Boise, L. (1990). Absenteeism and stress among employed caregivers of the elderly, disabled adults, and children. In Biegel, D.E. & Blum, A. (Eds.), Aging and Caregiving (pp. 160–183). Newbury Park: Sage.Google Scholar
Ontario Women's Directorate & Ministry of Community and Social Services (1991). Work and Family — The Crucial Balance. Toronto: Government of Ontario.Google Scholar
Orondenker, S.Z. (1990). Family caregiving in a changing society: the effects of employment on caregiver stress. Family and Community Health, 12, 58–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paris, J. (1989). The Corporate Response to Workers with Family Responsibilities (Report No. 43–89). Ottawa: The Compensation Research Centre, The Conference Board of Canada.Google Scholar
Scharlach, A.E., & Boyd, S.L. (1989). Caregiving and employment: results of an employee survey. The Gerontologist, 31, 778–787.Google Scholar
Scharlach, A.E., Lowe, B.F., & Schneider, E.L. (1991). Elder Care and the Work Force: Blueprint for Action. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.Google Scholar
Schoonover, C.B., Brody, E.M., Hoffman, C., & Kleban, M.H. (1988). Parent care and geographically distant children. Research on Aging, 10, 472–492.Google Scholar
Soldo, B.J., & Myllyluoma, J. (1983). Caregivers who live with dependent elderly. The Gerontologist, 23, 605–611.Google Scholar
Voydanoff, P. (1989). Work and family: A review and expanded conceptualization. In Goldsmith, E.B. (Ed.), Work and Family: Theory, Research and Applications (pp. 1–22). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.Google Scholar