Work–family balance in the second half of life: Caregivers' decisions regarding retirement and working time reduction in Europe

This article investigates how different types of informal caregiving – upward, lateral and downward – impact men's and women's decisions to retire or to reduce their working hours, and how welfare policy characteristics moderate the linkage between informal care provision and employment pa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social policy & administration 2021-05, Vol.55 (3), p.485-500
Main Authors: Bertogg, Ariane, Nazio, Tiziana, Strauss, Susanne
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aging
Caregivers
Caregiving
Employment
Europe
Family work relationship
Friendship
Informal care
intergenerational relationships
kinship structure
Labor force participation
Labor market
labour market participation
Participation
Retirement
Siblings
unpaid care
Welfare policy
Working hours
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Summary:This article investigates how different types of informal caregiving – upward, lateral and downward – impact men's and women's decisions to retire or to reduce their working hours, and how welfare policy characteristics moderate the linkage between informal care provision and employment participation. The analyses are based on six waves from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). We exploit the data's longitudinal structure by applying fixed-effects regression models with lagged, time-varying country characteristics. The results show that, in most cases, upward caregiving to parents is less relevant for deciding to remain in the labour market than lateral care (especially to siblings, friends and neighbours) and downward grandchild care. The welfare context moderates the impact of caregiving on labour market participation, with variation between the different types of care provided.
ISSN:1467-9515
0144-5596
1467-9515
DOI:10.1111/spol.12662