Dependency and Interdependency: the Incomes of Informal Carers and the Impact of Social Security

1990 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 469-497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Glendinning

ABSTRACTConsideration of the income and social security needs of informal carers has remained conspicuously absent from discussions about ‘community care’. Similarly, carers have been more or less invisible in the development of social security policies. This paper reports on a study of the financial circumstances of a sample of working age carers, who were living with and providing substantial amounts of help and support to a disabled person in the same household. The study highlights first, the substantial work-related costs incurred by carers with full time employment; and second the financial dependency of carers without full time earnings, on their spouse, sibling or on the person being cared for. The implications of these findings are discussed in the light of recent developments in social security policies.

2016 ◽  
Vol 61 (208) ◽  
pp. 73-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jelena Zarkovic-Rakic ◽  
Sasa Randjelovic ◽  
Marko Vladisavljevic

In Serbia the inactivity rate of the working-age population is close to 40%, among the highest in Europe. The country also faces a high informal employment rate of 24%. Previous research has argued that high levels of informality and inactivity are mostly due to a high effective tax wedge at low wage levels caused by a minimum base for calculation of social security contributions (SSC), sudden withdrawal of means-tested benefits once formal income is earned, and low progressivity of income tax. This paper evaluates the impact of the minimum SSC base reform scenarios on labour supply and employment formalization using tax and benefit micro-simulation models together with the structural discrete choice labour supply model based on the Survey on Income and Living Conditions Data. Although we do not find positive employment effects of the reform, it would be premature to deduce that abolishment of the minimum SSC base is not needed. At this stage in our research, until alternative labour-supply modelling is applied, with both sector and hours of work choice alternatives, it is only safe to conclude that the proposed reform will not significantly contribute to the transformation of informal full-time to formal full-time jobs.


2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 567-585 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Wheatley

This article considers the impact of flexible working arrangements (FWAs), using the British Household Panel Survey and Understanding Society, 2001–10/11. Results of panel logit, ANCOVA and change-score analysis are indicative of positive impacts from use of a number of FWAs, including homeworking having positive effects for men and women on job and leisure satisfaction. However, findings reveal gaps in availability and use of FWAs, and highlight the gendered nature of flexible employment. Flexi-time, the most common FWA among men, has positive effects as it facilitates management of household responsibilities while maintaining full-time employment. Part-time and homeworking are also positive, consistent with men using FWAs with a greater degree of choice. Women more often are constrained in their use of FWAs, often into working reduced hours. Consequently, FWAs have negative impacts for some women, on job (part-time when used for extended periods, flexi-time), leisure (job-share, flexi-time) and life satisfaction (job-share).


Author(s):  
Gabor Forgacs ◽  
Sara Dolnicar

Contingent (just-in-time, or gig) employment is on the rise in tourism and hospitality. People in contingent employment are not offered long-term contracts, but are called upon when needed. This chapter explores whether peer-to-peer accommodation networks are part of the problem or part of the solution. They create new challenges by increasing the competitive pressure on the established commercial sector, which leads to a reduction in jobs and a conversion of full-time to contingent employment. But they also offer new employment opportunities: without entry barriers, people can earn additional income by renting out spare space, and other opportunities – especially for a workforce trained in hospitality – are emerging as listing managers for hosts. These jobs may be particularly suitable to people traditionally struggling with full-time employment arrangements.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 626-646
Author(s):  
Li Huang ◽  
Rong Tan

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the causality between social security policies and farmland reallocation in rural China. Design/methodology/approach It quantitatively analyzes the impact of each ongoing social security policy on farmland reallocation based on a data set from the 2011 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS, 2011). Findings The study finds that the inclination of a village farmers’ collective to reallocate farmland due to changes in the village population increased if social security policies do not effectively cover the village because farmers rely primarily on income from farmland to cover their basic living expenses. However, if social security policies provide adequate coverage, then farmers do not rely entirely on on-farm income and the likelihood of farmland reallocation decreases. Furthermore, the effectiveness of social security policies includes not only coverage but also the sufficiency of the security policies provided. Research limitations/implications First, the authors use only cross-sectional data in this study, which may result in biased estimation and also limit temporal examination of the impact of social security systems, farmland reallocation and related policy variables. This limitation may be especially important in China because the country is undergoing a rapid socioeconomic transition. However, the research is constrained by the available data. Furthermore, there could be endogeneity problems that are difficult to address, given the current data set. These problems could involve the impacts of village-level economic, natural and social variables, the implementation of related public policies (land development and consolidation, land expropriation, etc.) and other economic variables. Practical implications These findings may provide implications for related policy reform in the near future. Originality/value These findings may facilitate a recognition and understanding of the causality between social security policies and farmland reallocation in rural China.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 306-332 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Schoukens ◽  
Alberto Barrio

In most countries, a standard (or core) model of employment relationship (i.e. full-time work under an open-ended employment contract) typically receives the greatest labour and social security protection, with divergent work arrangements receiving less protection in correlation to the magnitude of the differences between the former and the latter. However, recent developments concerning non-standard forms of work may question this dynamic. In this article, we examine the nature and current evolution of the standard employment relationship, then analyse how other forms of work deviate from this standard. In order to do so, we draw on the conclusions of the numerous studies recently published by scholars and international organisations in the wake of the growing public debate on the ‘new world of work’. Afterwards, we analyse the situation of non-standard workers under certain social security systems, in order to determine how those systems have approached the divergent character of these forms of work. This leads us to identify the main challenges that social security systems experience when faced with non-standard forms of work. The article concludes by addressing the need to adapt the basic principles of social security to the atypical features of non-standard work.


Demography ◽  
2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrés Villarreal ◽  
Wei-hsin Yu

Abstract We investigate the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on gender disparities in three employment outcomes: labor force participation, full-time employment, and unemployment. Using data from the monthly Current Population Survey, in this research note we test individual fixed-effects models to examine the employment status of women relative to that of men in the nine months following the onset of the epidemic in March of 2020. We also test separate models to examine differences between women and men based on the presence of young children. Because the economic effects of the epidemic coincided with the summer months, when women's employment often declines, we account for seasonality in women's employment status. After doing so, we find that women's full-time employment did not decline significantly relative to that of men during the months following the beginning of the epidemic. Gender gaps in unemployment and labor force participation did increase, however, in the early and later months of the year, respectively. Our findings regarding women's labor force participation and employment have implications for our understanding of the long-term effects of the health crisis on other demographic outcomes.


2017 ◽  
Vol 67 (659) ◽  
pp. e428-e436 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Cheshire ◽  
Damien Ridge ◽  
John Hughes ◽  
David Peters ◽  
Maria Panagioti ◽  
...  

Background‘Neoliberal’ work policies, austerity, NHS restructuring, and increased GP consultation rates provide the backdrop against increasing reports of GP burnout and an impending shortage of GPs.AimTo explore GPs’ experiences of workplace challenges and stresses, and their coping strategies, particularly focusing on understanding the impact of recent NHS workplace change.Design and settingStudy design was qualitative, with data collected from two focus groups and seven one-to-one telephone interviews.MethodFocus groups and one-to-one telephone interviews explored the experiences of GPs currently practising in England, recruited through convenience sampling. Data were collected using a semi-structured interview approach and analysed using thematic analysis.ResultsThere were 22 GP participants recruited: focus groups (n = 15) and interviews (n = 7). Interviewees understood GPs to be under intense and historically unprecedented pressures, which were tied to the contexts in which they work, with important moral implications for ‘good’ doctoring. Many reported that being a full-time GP was too stressful: work-related stress led to mood changes, sleep disruption, increases in anxiety, and tensions with loved ones. Some had subsequently sought ways to downsize their clinical workload. Workplace change resulted in little time for the things that helped GP resilience: a good work–life balance and better contact with colleagues. Although some GPs were coping better than others, GPs acknowledged that there was only so much an individual GP could do to manage their stress, given the external work issues they faced.ConclusionGPs experience their emotional lives and stresses as being meaningfully shaped by NHS factors. To support GPs to provide effective care, resilience building should move beyond the individual to include systemic work issues.


2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 382-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li Wang ◽  
Allison Williams ◽  
Peter Kitchen

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of various employment characteristics on the health of Canadian caregiver-employees (CEs), who are working full-time in the labor market while also providing informal/family care to adults. Design/methodology/approach Framed with Pearlin et al.’s (1990) stress model and using data from Statistic Canada’s General Social Survey Cycle 26 (2012), several work-related variables for caregivers were considered, including the availability of various forms of caregiver-friendly workplace policies (CFWPs), and a series of work interferences (WIs) experienced as a result of the caregiving role. Findings This study provides evidence for the value of CFWPs in all workplaces. Counter-intuitively, family and other forms of support were found to negatively relate to both physical and mental health. Originality/value This suggests that CFWPs will not only have an impact on CEs’ physical health outcomes, but will likely decrease the effect of the WIs experienced.


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