Gender Disparities in How Older Workers Reconcile Work and Care in England

Carers in England and across the UK have been a focus of policy debate on work and care for several decades. In the 2000s, modest new employment rights (including the right to request flexibility at work) were introduced to support them reconcile work and care, and municipalities received new funding from central government to help develop local services to address carers’ needs. In national population censuses in 2001 and 2011, the Office for National Statistics collected data about caring responsibilities and these permit examination of the relationship between the (unpaid) care individuals give to their older, sick or disabled family members, friends or neighbours and paid work, age, gender and health.
Based on analysis of these data, and supported by insights from two surveys of carers (the 2009/10 Survey of Carers in Households and the Carers, Employment and Services survey undertaken in 2006-7 at the University of Leeds), this contribution examines data on the intensity of caring responsibilities (using hours of weekly care provided as a measure of intensity) and participation in the labour market for men and women aged 45-64. The paper highlights gender differences in patterns of care and paid work, with a particular focus on the extent to which men and women in this age group appear to use part-time work and early retirement as ways of combining work and caring responsibilities.
In interpreting these data, the authors also draw on qualitative and policy evaluation studies undertaken by the CIRCLE research group at the University of Leeds. These provide insights into older workers’ motivations, preferences and behaviour in relation to work and care, and indicate the complex cultural, moral and institutional contexts which shape patterns of caregiving in later life.