Gainfully employed persons caring for aged next of kin –re-familialisation of the Swedish welfare model SESSION 18 3.4 Families in transition World Conference.

Gainfully employed persons caring for aged next of kin –re-familialisation of the Swedish

welfare model• SESSION 18 3.4 Families in transition

• World Conference in Social Work July 8-12 2012

• Ph.D. Ann-Britt Sand• Stockholm university/Swedish National Family Care Competence Centre• [email protected] • [email protected] • Ph.D. Els-Marie Anbäcken• Linköping University/Kwansei Gakuin University• [email protected]

• Ph.D. Konomi Imai, Kwansei Gakuin University, Nishinomiya, Japan• Ph.D. Li Mei Chen, Kwansei Gakuin University, Nishinomiya, Japan• Ph.D. Naomi Teramoto, Baika Jyoshi University, Ibaraki, Japan• Ph.D. Mayumi Ohshio, Ryukoku University, Otsu Japan

Frame & context of the study

This study is a part of a collaborative research funded by the Japan’s Ministry of Education Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research and investigates and identifies the necessary socialization process in order to achieve gender equity for “care” labor. •Research in social policy and feminism have mutually agreed that Japan’s welfare state has been built on the gender norm of males as breadwinners and females as family caregivers (Imai, 2011).

•The study presented here focuses Sweden.

•The Swedish welfare state model is built on gainful employment of both males and females.

•While the Swedish family policy clearly supports a shared breadwinner model (or dual earner model) where men and women have the same rights and duties, expressed in the parental insurance system regulating childcare, this seems to be far less the case in the field of eldercare (Szebehely 2005, 2006)

From de-familialisation to re-familialisation?

• The role of family caregivers has received attention with the Anhörig 300 government funded project launched at the end of the1990’s From July 1st 2009, the municipalities are obliged by law to offer support to next of kin (Sand, 2010).

• The Swedish welfare model is based on the premises that 1) the society, not the family, has the main responsibility for care, and 2) that all adults are gainfully employed, from the time of employment until retirement (Mossberg Sand 2000).

• Nonetheless, it is estimated that about 70 % of all elderly care in Sweden is performed by relatives (Johansson et al 2003) and that the largest share of family carers is among the gainfully employed population, mainly daughters (Szebehely 2005).

From de-familialisation to re-familialisation?

• The Swedish welfare model could be described as undergoing different stages from defamilialisation -from the 1930’s- to refamilialisation – beginning in the late 1980s (Sand 2007). We will discuss the present study from these two seemingly contradictory poles and with a focus on the care towards aged parents by gainfully employed adult children. Our discussion is based on some results from the five networks which has been started as a result of the establishment of a National Family Care Competence Center (2008) by the Swedish Government to collect and spread knowledge about informal carers’ situation.

• The next step - a comparative study on the situation of gainfully employed family caregivers in Japan & Sweden.

Background Sweden• Almost 18% of the population is 65+ and around 15 % of this so

called ”elderly” population use social care services.

• A big public sector is meant to cover for people in need of help.

• Legislation is built on the individual, not the family. This means, among else, that you have to be employed to receive benefits from the social insurance company (illness, unemployment benefits, pension).

• Nonetheless more than 70% of all elder care is performed by relatives.

• Family/informal care has not received much attention until the last 10 years - and due to economic reasons.

Swedish National Family Competence Centre - NkA

• This centre was established on order from the Swedish government in 2008. The purpose of the centre is to collect and spread knowledge about the situation of family care givers, and stimulate development in this field.

• I have been working in the centre from the start (40%). My role is to investigate how to combine work and care. The presentation here is built on my book which was published 2010. The aim was precisely to look at knowledge about work and care in Sweden as well as internationally.

What do we know about those who combine work and care in Sweden

• The main part of all elder care is performed by daughters (and sons) 45-65 years of age. The majority are gainfully employed.

• But - the image of a family caregiver is an elderly spouse. This view has guided the development of support for family care givers.

In other countries this group has been given more attention

• Research shows some characteristics for this group:

• It is hard to combine work and care.

• Most people try to continue to work in spite of a sometimes difficult caring situation.

• Work is important, both for the economy but also as a break from caring.

Research shows

• Informal care may affect working life in a negative way:

• Occational breaks

• Reduced or adjusted working hours

• Hard to invest in work (enroll in work development courses, over time work etc.)

• A lot of time is spent trying to coordinate the care for the relative.

Increased risk for:

• Stress

• Depression

• Other physical or mental health complications

Economy

• Family care can cause poverty

• Economic grants for family carers exist in many countries and this type of help is growing fast in Western Europe

• (for example England, Ireland, Germany, though handled in different ways)

Support for working carers in some other countries

• Legislation to economically protect family care givers.

• Right to take time off and flexible working hours (the employer must cooperate).

• Tax reduction.

Learning network How to combine work and care 2008-2009

• Sweden

• Results from something called • Learning Networks.

• In 6 places in Sweden

• about 50 persons participated • There were quite similar answers/discussions in the different groups.

Sweden

• The difficulties for Swedish care givers show striking similarities with results from international research.

• Important to keep the job but hard to combine with care.

Family cares in Sweden

• Occational breaks

• Reduced or adjusted working hours

• Hard to invest in work (go courses, work over time etc.)

• A lot of time is spent trying to coordinate the care for the relative.

What protection do working caregivers have in Sweden

• In principle there is no protection at all for family care givers as legislation presupposes that those who need help will get it from society.

Requests from learning networks

• To be able to combine work and care Swedish informal care givers wanted:

• Individual/flexibel support

• Good quality on public support

• Information and co-ordination of formal help • Economic support

What is good support

• A support that takes into consideration both the care giver and the care receiver.

• Makes it possible to continue to work,

• Gives economic and practical support if it is not

possible to continue to work because of the care giving.

Ongoing research at Stockholm university

• The cost of care: Caring responsibilities and gainful employment in middle age.

• Marta Szebehely• Ann-Britt Sand• Petra Ulmanen

• Founded by Swedish Research Council

• Questionnary to 6000 persons, 40 intervjuews

• New book: Teppo Kröger and Sue Yeandle (eds) Combining paid work and family care: Policies and experiences in international perspective. Oxford Policy Press. Autumn 1012 or spring 2013. Both Szebehely and Sand have chapters in the book.

A Japanese - Swedish comparative perspective on family caregiving, focusing care for older adults

• The next step in our project is a comparative study on the situation of gainfully employed family caregivers in Japan & Sweden and what support there is.

The aim is to compare

* what kind of support the family caregivers wish to have

* the forms of support; are the forms part of the cementing or

changing of stereotype gender roles?

* structural factors : welfare models & policies - and theories - underpinning these, that enable or disable family carers to caregiving.

”The universal caregiver model” (Nancy Fraser) will be used as one analytical tool.

Welfare models & gender

• Is Japan and Sweden from opposite poles moving towards new welfare society models?

*Japanese society seeing & acknowledging more of formal support?

*Swedish society seeing & acknowledging more of informal support?

If so, how does this impact gender roles?

Thank you for your attention!

• Acknowledgements

• The Japan’s Ministry of Education Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research

• Swedish Research Council• Swedish National Family Care Competence Centre