Many Canadians have to take time off work to care for relatives and get them to appointments.
Photo Credit: Health Canada

Helping workers balance jobs and elder care

Middle-aged workers who also care for elderly relatives sometimes find the demands to be too much and choose to retire instead. So the government has struck a panel of industry leaders and experts in caregiving  to try to find ways that employers can make it easier for such workers to stay on the job.

Labour shortage looming

Retaining workers is important in Canada because such a large proportion of the population is aged between 50 and 68, and as they retire, there could be labour shortages and great demands on the social security system.

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“In fact, 6.1 million Canadians are both employed and providing care and that actually is 35 per cent of our labour force,” says Janice Keefe, a professor of gerontology at Mount Saint Vincent University and expert advisor to the panel.

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Prof. Janice Keefe says it is in employers’ interest to help employees balance work and care responsibilities.

Most adults don’t live with elderly parents

Except for new Canadians, adults rarely live in the same house as their parents and they may move great distances away for jobs. That makes it difficult and time-consuming for them to provide care for aging or ill family members.

Once employees face more than 10 hours taking care of someone, they lose interest in continuing to work, according to the government department responsible for social services which has been studying the problem. But enhanced flexibility at work can offset that effect.

Work flexibility can help

Flexible hours, working from home, compressed work weeks, job-sharing can all help employees manage their work and care responsibilities, as can the opportunity to discuss the problems and exchange ideas with other caregivers.

Good for employees, good for employers

It is in employers’ best interest to help workers, says Keefe. The Conference Board of Canada, a not-for-profit think tank, says that employers lose $1.28 billion in production each year because of workers who have to resign or take time off work to take care of relatives.

The panel is made up of seven people who will tour the country and collect ideas on how employers can help their workers manage their jobs and outside caregiving. They hope to compile a set of strategies and publish it this fall or winter, that is, sometime after August.

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