The Costs of Caring: Gender, Care and Personal Finance
Project lead: Dr Louise Overton
As the UK population ages, and fiscal pressures on care systems continue to impact on eligibility levels, a large portion of social care is provided informally, by family and friends.
Although a growing body of research points to the negative economic effects of caregiving, the vast majority of this research is quantitative. An initial scoping review has highlighted the paucity of qualitative research with a specific focus on the financial wellbeing of unpaid carers. In-depth, qualitative research on the types of caregiving decisions people make, how they make them, and the immediate and longer-term effects of such decisions on financial security and wellbeing remain under explored.
This study brings a life course perspective to bear on the phenomenon of unpaid caregiving. The qualitative design allows us to explore how major adult life transitions, such as becoming a carer, divorcing, changing jobs and retiring, shape financial (in)security and wellbeing. Further related concepts and frameworks of cumulative disadvantage and role and identity theory will also be used to understand the influence of earlier caregiving and related experiences on later life circumstances, and the ways in which people negotiate and reconcile competing demands stemming from multiple and sometimes conflicting roles.
The study aims to answer the following questions:
- What decisions are individuals making in relation to care and personal finance and how are they making them? (e.g. as a joint economic decision? In the context of other situational factors/the needs of other family members? with consideration for immediate or longer-term impacts on their own financial wellbeing. What role does advice and guidance play, if any, in the decision-making process?)
- What is the impact of informal caregiving on financial wellbeing and security across the life course?
- How do people who pay for care cope with, plan for and meet the costs of care? What are the biggest challenges, stresses and strains?
- How is this experienced (unequally) by different groups? To explore the unequal experience and financial consequences of care and caring, we will employ a maximum variation sample and set specific quotas for:
- income level
- ethnicity
- age
- How can the financial wellbeing of carers be improved? What is the role of policy, market and workplace solutions? And where should the balance of responsibility lie?
- What services (e.g. information-giving, advice services, other) might be most useful to carer households in supporting them to manage financial difficulty and maintain/build financial security and wellbeing over time?
- How might policy interventions in areas such as pensions, savings and income maintenance meet the needs and experiences of carers more effectively?
Engagement and impact are embedded in the project design through the inclusion of stakeholder workshops/roundtables to engage relevant audiences and formulate pathways to impact. These workshops/roundtables will be an opportunity for us to discuss shared goals with stakeholders, and ensure engagement activity and the impact goals of the project are aligned to their aims, as well as to the needs of the primary beneficiaries of the project.
In addition to academic (e.g. journal articles) and non-academic outputs (e.g. policy report) we will organise and attend conference presentations, seminars and workshops to disseminate the findings to relevant audiences, (e.g. via the CHASM, industry/care sector-organised events; national and international conferences).