scholarly journals Why older rural women in Ireland want to work: it's not all about the money

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Alison Herbert

Abstract This paper extends our understanding of employment and gendered rural ageing by examining the latent benefits of paid work for mid-life women in rural Ireland. Existing social gerontology literature deals extensively with manifest financial reasons to work, consequences of gendered pay and pension inequalities, work-related health concerns and the negative impacts to an extended working life for women. However, there is much less focus on the latent non-financial positive contributions that work provides for the older woman, especially within a rural context. Findings from this study show how mid-life women, even if in lower-paid, precarious work or in poorer health may choose to continue working into older age. Paid work provides not only financial autonomy, but also temporal structure, life purpose, personal agency, social connectivity and a self-identity that most women are reluctant to relinquish to retirement. Meaningful work plays a critical role in the ageing experience of older rural women. A qualitative study of 25 women aged 45–65 in Connemara, Ireland was undertaken from a lifecourse perspective and analysed using constructivist grounded theory to allow rich, novel narrative to emerge. Narrative from seven, who best represent all participants, are utilised in this paper. Conclusions suggest that the latent benefits of paid work are at least as, if not more important than financial gain for rural mid-life women.

2021 ◽  
pp. 216507992110126
Author(s):  
Lauren Victoria Ghazal ◽  
John Merriman ◽  
Sheila Judge Santacroce ◽  
Victoria Vaughan Dickson

Background: Young adult cancer survivors have significant work-related challenges, including interruptions to education and employment milestones, which may affect work-related goals (WRGs). The study purpose was to explore posttreatment perspectives of WRGs in a sample of young adult hematologic cancer survivors. Methods: This qualitative descriptive study used social media to recruit eligible cancer survivors (young adults working or in school at the time of cancer diagnosis). Data were collected through telephone semi-structured interviews and analyzed using directed content analysis, followed by thematic content analysis to identify themes. Findings: The sample ( N = 40) were mostly female (63.5%), White (75%), and diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma (57.5%); most worked in professional (40%) or health care (23%) roles. The overarching theme, “Survivors’ Dilemma,” highlights a changed perspective on work-related fulfillment and financial obligations, capturing survivors’ decision-making process regarding work. Three subthemes illustrated questions that participants contemplated as they examined how their WRGs had changed: (a) Self-identity: Do I want to do this work? (b) Perceived health and work ability: Can I do this work? and (c) Financial toxicity: Can I afford to/not to do this work? Conclusions/Application to Practice: Participants experienced a state of dilemma around their WRGs, weighing areas around self-identity, perceived health and work ability, and financial toxicity. Findings suggest occupational health nurses should be aware of challenges surrounding WRGs, including how goals may change following a cancer diagnosis and treatment, and the potential stressors involved in the Survivors’ Dilemma. Occupational health nurses should assess for these issues and refer young survivors to employee and financial assistance programs, as necessary.


Cephalalgia ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 497-502 ◽  
Author(s):  
GM Davies ◽  
N Santanello ◽  
W Gerth ◽  
D Lerner ◽  
GA Block

Migraine symptoms and therapy side effects cause significant functional disability that can result in work and productivity losses. Effective, well-tolerated migraine therapy with rapid onset of relief could decrease work and productivity losses. The Migraine Work and Productivity Loss Questionnaire (MWPLQ) evaluates the impact of migraine and migraine therapy on paid work. Data from a randomized, open-label extension study were collected over 3 months. Migraineurs were randomized to either rizatriptan (5HT1B/1D receptor agonist) or their usual migraine therapy. Data were analyzed from 164 patients who experienced at least one work-related migraine. Internal consistency (Cronbach's α) for the work difficulty domains ranged from 0.80 to 0.95. Work loss and work difficulty were moderately correlated ( r=0.39-0.58) with migraine severity and functional ability. Differences were found favoring rizatriptan for absenteeism (1.3 vs 2.4 h), effectiveness at work (62% vs 49%), and difficulty with work-related tasks ( p < 0.01). The MWPLQ demonstrated favorable measurement characteristics in this study and could be an important research tool for future evaluations of migraine-related work disability.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-75
Author(s):  
Dale Stephens

Abstract International humanitarian law (ihl) primarily applies to govern the conduct of individuals in the most desperate time of human endeavour, namely armed conflict, in order to ameliorate violence. However, understanding how ihl is disseminated, trained and actually applied in the battlespace is, remarkably, a relatively underexplored area. There are countless volumes dedicated to analyzing and parsing the myriad of words and formulas that comprise this burgeoning body of law. However, there is very little empirical analysis undertaken on effective training strategies and even less on tracking nuanced compliance and decision-making processes in actual armed conflict. Against this background, the 2018 icrc study ‘The Roots of Restraint in War’ offers an insightful account of how to best frame training strategies and how to optimize compliance in the battlespace. It consciously adopts an inter-disciplinary approach. It accepts fully the role of social, ethical and moral factors that can orientate decision making in a manner that combines with the applicable law. The goal is restraint in war, of a type that comes not from clinical compliance with complex legal formulas and interpretative rectitude but is derived from a deeper sense of professional self-identity. It acknowledges the risks inherent in its approach and yet, compellingly, offers a blueprint for melding principles of ihl with a sense of personal commitment. Such an approach is to be celebrated for the audacity and courage that it exhibits.


Author(s):  
Erman Çakıt ◽  
Waldemar Karwowski ◽  
Tadeusz Marek ◽  
Magdalena Jaworek ◽  
Grzegorz Wrobel

Understanding employees’ feelings at work plays a significant role in developing practical and effective organizational and human resource management policies and practices. Furthermore, work-related emotions may have a considerable effect on workers’ health and wellbeing and affect work effectiveness and work performance. The objectives of the current study were to investigate the relationships among four work-related (WOR) affective feelings (WORAF) and to validate the WORAF questionnaire in a Turkish sample. A survey was performed including four constructs: (1) WOR feelings of happiness, (2) WOR feelings of anxiety, (3) WOR feelings of anger, and (4) WOR feelings of dejection. A total of 322 workers from various companies in Turkey completed a paper-based survey. A research model was developed, and its main components were estimated with partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results revealed that dejection and anger at work play a critical role in experienced anxiety in occupational settings. Similarly, dejection, anger, and anxiety at work play a crucial role in perceived happiness at work.


1995 ◽  
Vol 58 (11) ◽  
pp. 465-468 ◽  
Author(s):  
Celia Oxley

Work may be defined in a number of ways and cover a variety of activities. As well as paid work, it can cover such activities as hobbies, housework, voluntary work and do-it-yourself. It is an important factor in promoting mental health. Meaningful work may actually reduce a client's psychiatric symptoms. A work rehabilitation programme needs to cater not only for those able to progress to open employment but also for those needing supported or sheltered employment. Consequently, the programme should Include a thorough work skills assessment, work adjustment and work skills training, sheltered employment and transitional/supported employment leading, finally, for those who are able, to open employment.


2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (11) ◽  
pp. 1881-1887
Author(s):  
Pomme van Maarschalkerweerd ◽  
Jany Rademakers ◽  
Mieke Rijken

1981 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 126-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chaya S. Piotrkowski ◽  
Paul Crits-Christoph

THIS study investigated the relationship between multiple characteristics of women's jobs and their family adjustment in a sample of 99 women in dual-earner families. Six work-related variables were considered simultaneously as predictors of family adjustment: intrinsic job gratification, satisfaction with job security, job-related mood, time spent at work, occupational prestige, and salary. The results were consistent with the hypothesis that women's paid work lives influence their family adjustment. Women's experiences of their work were significantly related to two of three measures of family adjustment. Salary was negatively associated with satisfaction with family relations for women in low-status occupations only. Time spent at work and occupational prestige showed no significant associations with reported adjustment. Of the three indicators of family adjustment, marital satisfaction appeared to be relatively immune from work influences. We hypothesized that the marital relationship may be less sensitive to women's paid work than are other aspects of their family relations.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leigh McCarley Blaney ◽  
David Wilde ◽  
Rowena Hill

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present a theory of psychological resilience in volunteer firefighters.Design/methodology/approachUsing a constructivist grounded theory (CGT) approach, the qualitative study engaged a purposive sample of eight firefighters in Canada, conducted in-depth interviews and analysed the data using comparative methods.FindingsThe results provided unique insights into resilience in firefighters and revealing resilience as multidimensional, complex, dynamic and contextual. Six core concepts interrelate to construct resilience: relationships, personal resources, meaning-making, leadership, culture and knowledge.Practical implicationsThe findings of this research offer a framework for practical integration of resilience theory into workplace health policy and practice. The theory was co-created with firefighters hence is contextually sound to this population, but applicable to other emergency and health services.Originality/valueVolunteer firefighters are under-represented in the literature, despite facing intermittent and frequently intense work-related stressors; this research begins to address the gap in the literature. As well, previous resilience theories have noted relationships between some components, but there is little evidence linking categories; this theory more patently represents the complex nature of resilience in volunteer firefighters.


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