From Executive Suite to Production Line: How Employees in Different Occupations Manage Elder Care Responsibilities

• Published in: Research on aging 1994-03, Vol.16 (1), p.7-26
• Main Author: Mutschler, Phyllis H.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult Children; Caregivers; Elder care; Elderly; Employment; Job Characteristics; Occupations; Professional Workers; Social research; Time management
• ISSN: 0164-0275; 1552-7573
• DOI: 10.1177/0164027594161002

It is now widely accepted that employee caregivers-in the main, women-need to make adjustments in or take time from their jobs in order to provide or oversee assistance required by elderly relatives. The absenteeism, lowered productivity, and job turnover noted by many employers in business group surveys have motivated a number of firms to seek ways to address the needs of this group of employees. To date, researchers studying work disruption among employee caregivers have given little attention to the ways in which employees in different types of jobs respond to their dual responsibilities toward employers and elders who require their assistance. Those investigating the ways in which caregivers accommodate these competing demands have speculated that blue- or pink-collar workers may differ from their white-collar counterparts in the kinds or intensity of work disruptions they face, but few studies have contained information on workers' jobs that would permit systematic analysis of this question. This article analyzes patterns of work accommodations among caregivers in the Survey of Informal Caregivers of the 1982 National Long Term Care Survey. Caregivers' occupations are classified as: (a) executive, professional, technical jobs (18%); (b) sales (8%) or service (23%) positions; (c) clerical jobs (19%); or (d) production line and other blue-collar positions (32%). The study concludes that because the approaches caregivers take to address the demands of elder care are quite diverse and vary with membership in occupational group, employers who wish to aid these employees will need to design a set of flexible policies and benefit packages.