Women Work And Care Of The Elderly

First published in 1999, this book is based on social policy research, taking a particular view of the nature of social policy, one that focuses on the direct impact of all public policies on the welfare of citizens and which defines policy as inclusive of all areas of policy development and implementation. The view of policy which clients and customers provide is thus a significant dimension of social policy. The research is one of the few studies which focuses specifically on carers who are also in the paid work force and want to remain in paid work and to fulfil their caring responsibilities. An overriding concern of the research is how workplaces, government policy and community attitudes can be changed to foster a better and more supportive environment for workers who are caring. The research points to the need to change workplace policies and organisational cultures to confer legitimacy on the felt obligation and responsibility to care for older relatives. The responsibility of employers are explored and the knowledge, competencies and time management skills demonstrated in unpaid caring work are found to match the 'skill get' generally required of a modern manager, thereby offering important lessons for employer and employee alike.

First published in 1999, this book is based on social policy research, taking a particular view of the nature of social policy, one that focuses on the direct impact of all public policies on the welfare of citizens and which defines policy as inclusive of all areas of policy development and implementation. The view of policy which clients and customers provide is thus a significant dimension of social policy. The research is one of the few studies which focuses specifically on carers who are also in the paid work force and want to remain in paid work and to fulfil their caring responsibilities. An overriding concern of the research is how workplaces, government policy and community attitudes can be changed to foster a better and more supportive environment for workers who are caring. The research points to the need to change workplace policies and organisational cultures to confer legitimacy on the felt obligation and responsibility to care for older relatives. The responsibility of employers are explored and the knowledge, competencies and time management skills demonstrated in unpaid caring work are found to match the 'skill get' generally required of a modern manager, thereby offering important lessons for employer and employee alike.

What are the realities of ‘community care’ – the unpaid care given by hundreds of thousands of women, often in their own homes – for children and adults who are handicapped or chronically sick, or for frail elderly people? Originally published in 1983, this book explores the experiences of such women and the dilemmas which ‘caring’ poses for them. At a time when most women needed to earn money from a paid job, how did ‘carers’ manage to juggle their caring and other domestic responsibilities, and what happened if they had to give up work? Against a background of government policies which favour care ‘by’ the community, the contributors to this book raise crucial issues for social and economic policy. Hilary Graham examines what caring really means and Clare Ungerson asks why women do it. Sally Baldwin and Caroline Glendinning focus on mothers with handicapped children and Fay Wright on single adults with elderly dependants. Alan Walker highlights the dependencies implicit in caring relationships with the elderly. Lesley Rimmer looks at the economic ‘costs’ of care, and Dulcie Groves and Janet Finch examine the invalid care allowance – a carers’ benefit for which married women can never qualify. In exploring the domestic sector of welfare, A Labour of Love was a highly topical contribution to the debate both on welfare provision and on the division of labour between men and women at the time.

"Work and Caring for the Elderly directly addresses the pressing issues of this worldwide dilemma by examining how 11 geographically dispersed countries in various stages of economic and social development are responding to this challenging problem.

This book provides a comparative analysis of the social, economic, industrial and migration dynamics that structure women’s paid work and unpaid care work experience in the Asia-Pacific region. Each country-focused chapter examines the formal and informal ways in which work and care are managed, the changing institutional landscape, gender relations and fertility concerns, employer and trade union responses and the challenges policy makers face and the consequences of their decisions for working women. By covering the entire region, including Australia and New Zealand, the book highlights the way different national work and care regimes are linked through migration, with wealthier countries looking to their poorer neighbours for alternative sources of labour. In addition, the book contributes to debates about the barriers to women’s participation in the workforce, the valuation of unpaid care, the gender wage gap, social protection and labour regulation for migrant workers and gender relations in developing Asia.

Although caregiving is predominantly women's work, care for the elderly is largely absent from the feminist agenda in this country. Emily K. Abel presents a compelling and sensitive report that describes the experience of caregiving from the perspective of adult daughters. She places their stories in the context of an analysis of existing policies and services for the elderly and traces the history of family caregiving in the U.S. since 1800. Through in-depth, open-ended interviews with 51 women who were caring for one or both parents, Abel explores how caregivers themselves understand their endeavors. Poignant excerpts from these interviews reveal the overwhelming sense of responsibility that these women feel for their parents' lives, how they protect their parents' dignity, and the isolation and lack of support that is faced in these homecare situations. While policy analysts speak of "filial responsibility," Abel allows the adult daughters to interpret its meaning in heart-rending detail. In her examination of how public policies affect the nature of caregiving at home, Abel argues that the amount of care women deliver to elderly relatives is determined not only by demographic trends but by the inadequacies of the long-term care system in the U.S. Author note: Emily K. Abel is Adjunct Associate Professor in the School of Public Health at the University of California, Los Angeles. She has published several books and is co-editor (with Margaret K. Nelson) of Circles of Care: Work and Identity in Women's Lives.

Women increasingly make up a significant percentage of the labor force throughout the world. This transformation is impacting everyone's lives. This book examines the resulting gender role, work, and family issues from a comparative worldwide perspective. Working allows women to earn an income, acquire new skills, and forge social connections. It also brings challenges such as simultaneously managing domestic responsibilities and family relationships. The social, political, and economic implications of this global transformation are explored from an interdisciplinary perspective in this book. The commonalities and the differences of women’s experiences depending on their social class, education, and location in industrialized and developing countries are highlighted throughout. Practical implications are examined including the consequences of these changes for men. Engaging vignettes and case studies from around the world bring the topics to life. The book argues that despite policy reforms and a rhetoric of equality, women still have unique experiences from men both at work and at home. Women, Work, and Globalization explores: Key issues surrounding work and families from a global cross-cultural perspective. The positive and negative experiences of more women in the global workforce. The spread of women’s empowerment on changes in ideologies and behaviors throughout the world. Key literature from family studies, IO, sociology, anthropology, and economics. The changing role of men in the global work-family arena. The impact of sexual trafficking and exploitation, care labor, and transnational migration on women. Best practices and policies that have benefited women, men, and their families. Part 1 reviews the research on gender in the industrialized and developing world, global changes that pertain to women’s gender roles, women’s labor market participation, globalization, and the spread of the women’s movement. Issues that pertain to women in a globalized world including gender socialization, sexual trafficking and exploitation, labor migration and transnational motherhood, and the complexities entailed in care labor are explored in Part 2. Programs and policies that have effectively assisted women are explored in Part 3 including initiatives instituted by NGOs and governments in developing countries and (programs) policies that help women balance work and family in industrialized countries. The book concludes with suggestions for global initiatives that assist women in balancing work and family responsibilities while decreasing their vulnerabilities. Intended as a supplemental text for advanced undergraduate and/or graduate courses in Women/Gender Issues, Work and Family, Gender and Families, Global/International Families, Family Diversity, Multicultural Families, and Urban Sociology taught in psychology, human development and family studies, gender and/or women’s studies, business, sociology, social work, political science, and anthropology. Researchers, policy makers, and practitioners in these fields will also appreciate this thought provoking book.

This work examines the experience of women providing care to children, disabled persons, the chronically ill, and the frail elderly. It differs from most writing about caregiving because it focuses on the providers rather than the care recipients. It looks at the experience of women caregivers in specific settings, exploring what caregiving actually entails and what it means in their lives