The effects of ill health and informal care roles on the employment retention of mid-life women: Does the workplace matter?

an article by Siobhan Austen (Curtin University, Australia) published in JIR: the journal of industrial relations Volume 55 Number 5 (November 2013)

Abstract

This article uses longitudinal data to measure the effects of ill health and informal care roles on the employment chances of mid-life women, and to examine how these effects are mediated by workplace characteristics.

We find that women in jobs with lower skills/status encounter the greatest difficulty in finding accommodations for changes in their health and informal care roles. We identify an important role for paid sick leave and holiday leave in boosting employment retention.

However, we find that the positive employment effects of permanent contracts do not extend to women experiencing increased informal care roles. Additionally, we do not identify a positive link between employment retention and flexible working time arrangements.

However, we do establish a link between a preference for reduced working hours and employment cessation, suggesting that some women experience problems in achieving flexible working hours and that this causes some of them to leave work altogether.

We argue that these findings are relevant to the design of policy initiatives aimed at lifting rates of workforce participation as part of the response to population ageing.

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Older age and ill-health: links to work and worklessness

Fiona Carmichael (University of Birmingham, UK), Claire Hulme, (University of Leeds, UK) and Lorna Porcellato (Liverpool John Moores University, UK) published in International Journal of Workplace Health Management Volume 6 Issue 1 (2013)

Abstract

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide insights on the relationship between health and employment in older age.

Design/methodology/approach
Qualitative methods are used with some additional quantitative analysis to explore emergent themes. The qualitative analysis is based on interviews with 56 men and women between the ages of 50 and 68. This part of the study uses the respondents’ own words to explain how physical and mental ill-health has impacted on labour market participation and vice versa. The quantitative analysis uses data from the British Household Panel Study and multivariate techniques.

Findings
The research highlights the complexity, individuality and two-way causality underlying the relationships between health, work and worklessness in older age. The analysis also suggests that type of job and workplace conditions matter. The negative impact of the onset of ill-health on employment participation only appears to be accentuated by age for women.

Research limitations/implications
The two data sets are not directly comparable.

Social implications
Planned rises in the age at which state pensions are payable need to be accompanied by policies that improve the health of older people and changes in workplace practices that facilitate longer working lives.

Originality/value
The paper has a specific focus on the relationship between ill-health and employment in older age; uses qualitative methods to draw out the main issues and quantitative analysis to draw additional insights and make some comparisons with younger cohorts.

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