Journal of Aging & Social Policy
ISSN: 0895-9420 (Print) 1545-0821 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wasp20
Caregiver Leave-Taking in Spain: Rate, Motivations, and Barriers Jesús Rogero-García PhD & Cristina García-Sainz PhD To cite this article: Jesús Rogero-García PhD & Cristina García-Sainz PhD (2016): Caregiver Leave-Taking in Spain: Rate, Motivations, and Barriers, Journal of Aging & Social Policy, DOI: 10.1080/08959420.2016.1145506 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08959420.2016.1145506
Accepted author version posted online: 25 Jan 2016.
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Date: 01 February 2016, At: 23:52
J. ROGERO-GARCÍA AND C. GARCÍA-SAINZ JOURNAL OF AGING & SOCIAL POLICY
Jesús Rogero-García, PhDa and Cristina García-Sainz, PhDb
Lecturer, Department of Sociology, Faculty of the College of Economics and Business, Autonomous University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
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Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Faculty of the College of Economics and Business, Autonomous University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Spain. Received May 6, 2014
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CONTACT Jesús Rogero-García, PhD, Lecturer, [email protected], Department of Sociology, Faculty of the College of Economics and Business, Autonomous University of Madrid, Campus de Cantoblanco, C/ Fco. Tomás y Valiente 5, 28049 Madrid,
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Accepted October 12, 2015
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Abstract: This paper aims to (1) determine the rate of (full- and part-time) caregiver leave-
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taking in Spain, (2) identify the reasons conducive to a more intense use of this resource, and (3) ascertain the main obstacles to its use, as perceived by caregivers. All 896 people covered by the sample were engaging in paid work and had cared for dependent adults in the last 12 years. This
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Caregiver Leave-Taking in Spain: Rate, Motivations, and Barriers
resource, in particular the full-time alternative, was found to be a minority option. The data showed that legal, work-related, family and gender norm issues are the four types of factors that determine the decision to take such leaves. The most significant obstacles to their use are the forfeiture of income and the risk of losing one’s job. Our results suggest that income replacement
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during a leave would increase the take up of these resources. Moreover, enlargement of public care services would promote the use of leave as a free choice of caregivers.
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Keywords: Adult care; caregiver leaves; employment conditions; informal caregivers
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For approximately the last 20 years, a number of countries have been developing and implementing public policies in connection with family caregiving. In the last few years
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especially, in most European countries (Moss, 2013) and a number of U.S. states (CastoraBrinkley, Noelker, Ejaz and Rose, 2010), the measures adopted include the institution of leaves to enable families to care for people in their homes, although the regulation and use of such breaks differ significantly from country to country. These leaves or breaks, known as “caregiver
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leaves”, consist essentially of shortening the normal working day (part-time leave) or interrupting work altogether (full-time leave) for a given period of time to care for an elderly, ill
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or disabled family member. The legislation on caregiver leaves differs from the provisions
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applied to care for children both in Spain and other European countries. While the measures for reconciling work and childcare are fairly well developed in Europe, the initiatives focusing on adult caregiving, including caregiver leaves, have lagged behind (OECD, 2011). No European
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Introduction
guideline is in place to harmonize practice and application varies widely (EPEC, 2011; OECD, 2011; Bettio and Verashchagina, 2012). Caregiver leaves are designed to guarantee workers’ right to care for dependent family members. In Spain, Act 39/1999 broadened the scope of such leaves, formerly restricted to caring for
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“physically or mentally disabled” persons (Workers’ By-laws, 1980), to include one-year leaves of absence to care for a “family member up to the second degree of kinship who for reasons of age, accident, disease or disability is unable to care for him/herself and who engages in no
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remunerated activity”. Employees who have been with a company for at least one year are eligible for such leaves. Act 3/2007 subsequently extended the duration of leaves to 2 years and
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reduction of hours were elasticized and social security coverage was improved by crediting workers with full-time work during the first year. Since despite the legislative support in place,
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such leaves are scantly used in Spain, studies are in order on the underlying reasons for this situation and the effects of leave-taking on worker performance and careers (Lero, Richardson and Korabik, 2009; Eurofound, 2009).
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Despite the growing number of studies conducted in recent years on dependent adults and public policies, no specific analysis of the extent of caregivers’ leave-taking in Spain has been found in
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the literature. This article aims to contribute to filling that gap, by: 1. determining the rate of leave-taking to care for adults in Spain; 2. identifying the reasons associated with a more
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frequent use of leaves, and 3. ascertaining the main work- and non-work-related obstacles to their use from the standpoint of caregivers who do not take leaves.
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guaranteed social security coverage during the first. For part-time leaves, the requirements on the
In Europe, a greater demand for family caregiving may be expected in the not-very-distant future due to the imbalance between the numbes of young and old (Durán, 2012; Bettio and Verashchagina, 2012; EUROSTAT, 2009), especially in societies where public services and reconciliation measures are scantly developed. The management of these developments will
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consequently be one of the key factors of future social organization and necessitate the adoption of public measures. Moreover, European equal opportunity and social cohesion goals have put reconciliation policies on most European governments’ agendas. Gender inequalities have been
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identified in the distribution of family caregiving and paid work. Women’s majority role as caregivers often has an adverse impact on their careers (Hessel and Keck, 2009; Meil, García
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tool for addressing family caregiving and furthering co-responsibility in the domestic domain (European Council, 2010), as well as a resource for enhancing women’s and men’s balanced
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participation in the labor market. Leaves have also been seen as avenues that may consolidate or widen the gaps between men and women on the labor market and in the domestic sphere both (Castro García and Pazos Morán, 2008).
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In Spain, families indisputably bear most of the responsibility for caring for dependent people. In 2007, 79 % of dependent Spaniards (>5 years old) received care exclusively from family
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members. That figure is 20 points higher than the EU-27 average (European Commission, 2009). In 2008, care was administered and paid for privately in around 14 % of the cases (Rogero-
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García and Ahmed-Mohamed, 2014). This type of care is normally provided by low-skilled workers, hired unofficially and paid low wages (Rodríguez, 2012). Substantial numbers of these workers are immigrants, especially in urban areas (García Sainz, Santos Pérez y Valencia
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Sainz, Luque and Ayuso, 2009). Caregiver leaves to care for adults are viewed as a necessary
Olivero, 2014). Likewise in 2008, 7 % of the dependent people had access to public service
coverage (Rogero-García and Ahmed-Mohamed, 2014), although that percentage has more than likely declined in the interim as a result of the crisis (Lahey and De Villota, 2013). While the Spanish National Dependency System is funded by the State, the regions (“Autonomous
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Communities”) are responsible for its implementation (Spanish Act 39/2006). In 2012, the breakdown of total public spending on services and benefits was as follows: the telecare service (monitoring and intervention in emergencies) accounted for 13.5 %, permanent residential care
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for 13.4 %, at-home support services (such as cleaning or cooking) for 12.9 %, the day/night center service (full care during the day or night) for 6.4 %, and preventive services for 1.9%
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persons or their relatives. The first hypothesis consequently contends that the paucity of public benefits, together with the high cost of private services, encourages the use of leaves among
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employees struggling under a heavy caregiving burden in the absence of family support.
Factors conditioning the use of caregiver leaves
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Not all employees with caregiving responsibilities have equal access to leaves to care for adults. Legal, work-related, family and gender norm issues are the four types of factors that condition
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their use.
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Firstly, the legislation stipulates specific requisites to qualify for this resource and other conditions of use. These requisites and conditions refer to: (1) work-related qualification (such as type of contract and years with the employer); (2) family circumstances (degree of kinship
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(IMSERSO-CSIC 2012). The remaining 52 % consisted of direct payments for dependent
between caregiver and dependent person); (3) remuneration (whether or not leaves are paid, and in the affirmative, definition of the proportion of the salary and who shoulders the cost); (4) duration (minimum and maximum); and (5) guarantee of post-leave employment.
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Two of the most prominent features of European legislation on leave policies may be its changeability and inter-country diversity, in connection with both eligibility (degree of kinship required and type of employment) and conditions (maximum duration and remuneration) (Bettio
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and Verashchagina, 2012; EPEC, 2011). For instance, caregiver leaves are not remunerated in Germany (maximum duration, 6 months per year), France (maximum 3 months), the Netherlands
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at 22 % of the employee’s salary, paid by the State; in Denmark, paid leaves of up to 6 months per year are available at approximately 50 % of the salary in the private and 100 % in the public
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sector; and Finland provides for leaves of up to 12 months at 70 to 80 % of the unemployment benefit, depending on number of years with the employer, sector and type of employment (EPEC, 2011; Bettio and Verashchagina, 2012). In Europe as a whole, part-time work is regarded not as “leave” but as one of several options envisaged by companies to elasticize
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working schedules (for reasons of family caregiving).
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The second type of factors that, together with legal considerations, condition the use of caregiver leaves are job-related. The labor market situation is a primary factor when applying for caregiver
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leave, for high unemployment and job insecurity constrain the exercise of workers’ rights. According to the Spanish “Labor Force Survey” (INE, 2012), in this year unemployment was upward of 25 % and according to the Spanish Sociological Research Centre (2012) (survey
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(30 days per year) or Spain. In contrast, Belgium provides for leaves of up to 260 days per year
2972), 22.3 % of employees believed that they were likely to lose their jobs within a year. In light of the foregoing, the second hypothesis is that, in a context of high unemployment and job insecurity, the risk of losing one’s job and the foreseeable forfeiture of career opportunities upon return after a leave deter employed caregivers from requesting such leaves.
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A third group of factors that conditions access to leaves to care for adults is cultural and related to gender norms. In Spain, as in most Mediterranean countries, both the family-based organization of care (Moreno Mínguez, 2007) and the distribution of paid work reinforce
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women’s bond to the domestic realm. The traditional attribution of family caregiving to women (Badgett and Folbre, 1999; Torns, 2008; Durán, 2012) affects men’s and women’s decisions
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both male and female wage earners. On the one hand, men have no need to take leaves when women altruistically assume the task of caring for family members. On the other, Spanish
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women’s weaker position on the labor market in terms of salaries and job stability discourages them from applying for leaves. That notwithstanding, the vast majority of persons opting to reduce their working hours and apply for leaves to care for relatives are women, a fact that further weakens their employability. Of the 6 122 leaves recorded in 2012 to care for adult
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relatives, 88.7% were taken by women (Ministerio de Empleo y Seguridad Social, 2013).
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The fourth group of factors that condition the use of leaves has to do with family circumstances. The first of these is the adult’s degree of dependence, which determines the intensity of care
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needed (Durán, 2012). Secondly, the relationship with the dependent person is an essential factor when deciding on whether to apply for a leave. Thirdly, the family support network conditions the time devoted by caregivers, for the smaller the network of potential participants, the greater
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about paid work. The third hypothesis is that these gender norms discourage leave-taking among
is the concentration of tasks to be assumed by each individual (Rogero-García and Rosenberg,
2011). Leave-taking may plausibly be assumed to rise when other family support is lacking. Fourthly, caregivers’ career and family expectations and aspirations, against the backdrop of
gender norms, are relevant to understanding leave-taking decisions.
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Methodology This paper draws from the statistics published in the “Encuesta sobre el uso de los permisos
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parentales” (survey on the use of caregiver leaves), which aimed to ascertain the family, economic and social circumstances, as well as the advantages and drawbacks, that condition the
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additional information on the participation of different actors in the care for minors under the age of 13. The representative random sample of Spain covered 4 000 telephone interviews with
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adults between the ages of 25 and 60 conducted between January and March 2012. While telephone surveys are subject to the bias inherent in the use of this vehicle for communication, such as the problem of coverage, they have proven to be sufficiently valid and reliable (Muntanyola Saura and Romero Balsas, 2013). Sampling was subject to minimum sex and age
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quotas. The data were weighted for these two variables. The sub-sample analyzed for this study included 896 people who reported having engaged in paid work while caring for a dependent
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adult at some time in the 12 years prior to the survey (i.e., since the introduction of caregiver
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leaves). A total of 29 respondents reported reducing their working hours or taking a full leave, while the 867 remaining replied to questions about why, as potential beneficiaries, they had not made use of such leaves.
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use of leaves to care for children and adults. This retrospective, cross-sectional survey includes
The “Encuesta sobre el uso de los permisos parentales” constitutes an ideal source of information for determining the rate of leave-taking among potential users and provides information on the context in which leaves are taken and the main motivation for doing so. Information such as furnished by the Spanish Ministry of Employment and Social Security in its Anuario de
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Estadísticas Laborales (Yearbook of Labor Statistics) (Ministerio de Empleo y Seguridad Social, 2013) lists the number of leaves recorded yearly among the working population, but not the number of potential applicants. Spain’s “Labor Force Survey” (LFS), in turn, contains data on
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employees who work part-time to be able to care for children or (ill, disabled or elderly) adults, but these data are not disaggregated.
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as employed caregiver or caregiving. While the LFS disaggregates the various activities comprising caregiving, the social security data are drawn from a roster in which leave for that
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purpose depends on employer authorization. Comparison on the European scale, in turn, is hindered by the conceptual and methodological differences among countries, as well as by the existence of different legislative provisions and types of leaves, which include, for instance,
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leaves for palliative care, which do not exist in Spain.
In the “Encuesta sobre el uso de los permisos parentales en España”, caregivers were identified
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in terms of respondents’ reply to the following question. “Have you cared for (or are you
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presently caring for) a dependent person with an accident-related or other disability on a regular and unpaid basis in the last 12 years?” Where the reply was affirmative, to identify the persons who were eligible for leaves, respondents were asked: “Did you engage or are you engaging in
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Moreover, the various sources of information do not apply standardized definitions of terms such
paid work at the same time?” Respondents were asked to report on only one such situation. Where they had provided care for more than one person during the 12 years prior to the interview, they were asked to refer their replies only to the person to whom they had devoted the
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most time. A total of 26.6 % of caregivers had cared for at least one other adult while attending to the person to whom their replied referred. Firstly, the research strategy consisted of running a descriptive analysis of the use of such leaves
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and the characteristics of the beneficiaries (to collect information relevant to all three hypotheses). Given the small size of the sample of people who had taken caregivers’ leave, these
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used to identify the profile of caregivers reporting different reasons for not taking leaves. Given the short number of respondents who did take leaves, the study focused on the persons eligible
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for leaves who chose not to take them, and their reasons (n=867). The number of cases varied across the models because different numbers of caregivers responded to the three reasons for not using leaves analyzed in the models. The models drew no distinction between full leaves and
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part-time leaves because the aim here was not to differentiate between types of leave but to analyze the cases in which working time was voluntarily reduced.
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To that end, the analysis defined three dependent variables, namely the following reasons for not
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taking leaves: model 1: "excessive loss of income"; model 2: "adverse impact on job security”; model 3: “support from partner or other relatives”. All were yes/no questions. The first two reasons were chosen to identify the situations where economic or employment-related questions
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results should be interpreted with caution. Secondly, several logistic regression models were then
were decisive in non-leave-taking. The aim of the second was to explore the contexts in which
support from other family members was instrumental to refraining from taking a leave. The following independent variables were included, grouped by factor determining caregiver leaves:
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1. work-related factors (at the time of the interview): type of contract (“permanent”, “temporary”, “non-wage-earner”), sector (“public”, “private).
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2. gender norms: sex.
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3. family factors and context of care: kinship with the dependent person (“your father/mother”,
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“initially mild/moderate and later moderate/severe”), primary caregiver (“yes”, “no”, “respondent plus another person”), years of caregiving (“2 or less”, “2-6”, “over 6”), frequency
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of care (“every day or nearly”, “less often”).
Results
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Just 3.2 % of the persons who had cared for dependent adults in the last 12 years reported having reduced their working hours or taken a full leave for that purpose. In all, 2.4 % reduced their
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hours and 0.8 % took a full leave. The mean duration of part-time leaves was 2.9 years and the mean reduction 2.8 hours daily. The mean duration of full leaves was 6 months. The mean age of
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caregivers working part-time or not at all was 46.4, very similar to the 45.8 for all other caregivers surveyed (Table 1).
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“your father-/mother-in-law”, “other”), degree of dependence (“mild”, “moderate", “severe”,
The scant use of such leaves made it difficult to obtain a large enough number of cases to reliably run multivariate analysis. Conclusions could be drawn, however, from an analysis of the percentage of use of these leaves by caregiver characteristic and caregiving circumstances (Table 2). The use of leaves was significantly greater among: women (5.3 %), singles (9.6 %),
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caregivers for people with severe dependence (4.9 %), primary caregivers (6.7 %), sole caregivers (5.8 %) and caregivers who lived with the dependent person (5.2 %). The reasons wielded for taking leave included the desire to spend more time with the family
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(71 %) and to not to have to place the dependent person in a home (55 %) (Table 3). The lack of public resources (43 %) ranked third and the desire not to overburden other family members
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reduce work-induced stress or fatigue (20 %).
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The reasons most frequently cited for not applying for leave had to do with the perception that it was unnecessary: 60.7 % reported not requesting it because they had support from other family members and 44 % because their working hours were compatible with caregiving. Many caregivers referred to financial or occupational difficulties: 39.3 % deemed that their incomes
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would have declined too steeply if they had taken a leave; 21.5 % that such a request was unthinkable in their place of work; 19.2 % that they would have jeopardized their job and 13.8%
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that it would have had an adverse effect on their career. Similarly, 12.4 % reported that it was
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unnecessary because the dependent person went to a day center, 6.8 % preferred to devote more time to their work and 6.4 % felt that applying for such leaves was frowned upon (Table 4). The logit regression models, in which the dependent variables were the reasons wielded by
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(37 %) fourth. The fifth was to avoid having to pay for formal caregiving (28 %) and the sixth to
caregivers for not taking leaves to care for adults, are given in Table 5. These models included only caregivers for dependent adults who were eligible for leaves but chose not to take one. The purpose was to identify the main obstacles to using leaves by caregivers’ job situation and the
type of care involved. The first two models explored work-related reasons (loss of income and
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perception of loss of job security), while the third examined the caregiver’s support network (the existence or otherwise of assistance for caregiving). The dependent variable in model 1 was “excessive loss of income”. Further to this model,
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persons with the most intense and long-lasting caregiving burden were the ones most likely to respond that their income would have declined too steeply: more specifically, people caring for
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caregivers. In the population of non-leave takers, women caregivers were also more likely not to request leaves for reasons of income loss. Lastly, caregivers for parents or spouses were more
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likely to report this reason than those with other relationships with the dependent person. The variables related to working conditions and frequency of care were not found to be significant. The years of care variable was observed to lie on the outer limit of significance.
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In model 2 the dependent variable was “adverse impact on job security”. This model revealed that people with a temporary contract or working in the private sector were more likely to see
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their job jeopardized than people with a permanent contract or working in the public sector,
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respectively. Caregivers for persons with moderate or severe dependence were more likely to reply in this manner than persons caring for mildly dependent adults. In this model, the years and frequency of care, caregiver sex and kinship proved to be insignificant.
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adults with moderate or severe, rather than mild, dependence and who were the primary
The dependent variable in model 3 was “support from partner or other family members”. According to this model, people who were not the primary caregivers were more likely to claim that they did not take a leave because they received help from their partner or other family members. Self-employed workers and public sector employees were less likely to wield this
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reason than wage earners with permanent contracts and private sector employees. The years of care, degree of dependence, kinship and caregiver sex were not significant.
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Discussion and conclusions This article analyses the use and scope of leaves for caring for dependent adults in Spain. This is
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designed specifically to gather information on the factors conditioning such use. Such
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information is particularly necessary in the present context of demographic, economic and social change.
The first objective of this study was to determine the rate of leave-taking to care for adults among caregivers with paid work, i.e., who were both potential beneficiaries of such leaves and
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legally eligible to request them. The data confirmed that this resource is scantly used, especially compared to leave-taking to care for children (Lapuerta, Baizán and González, 2011; Romero-
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Balsas, 2012). Several explanations may be given for these differences. Firstly, the
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unpredictability of the onset of dependence and the uncertainty around its duration (Hessel and Keck, 2009) are often obstacles to planning a temporary reduction in working hours. Secondly, social norms on reciprocity in childcare are not applied to the same extent to care for dependent
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the first empirical analysis of this measure conducted on the country that used a data source
adults and the levels of satisfaction vary greatly between the two (Rogero-García and Rosenberg, 2011). Thirdly, due to the belated development of these measures and the scant publicity they have received, potential users are often unaware of them.
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As might be expected, given the lack of compensation for the loss of income, part-time leaves prevails over full leaves, where the rates of use are particularly low. Part-time leaves lasts substantially longer than full leaves, due essentially to the loss of salary entailed in the latter, as
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well as the anticipation of adverse effects of losing contact with the employer for a relatively long time. As assumed in the second hypothesis, the findings showed that one of the keys to
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of leaves to care for adults (EPEC, 2011).
The second objective of this study was to identify the reasons most conducive to using these
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leaves, while the closely related third objective, consequently discussed jointly, consisted of determining the main work- and non-work-related obstacles to their use as perceived by caregivers themselves.
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The findings show that the use of leaves rises where demand for care is intense and other support is lacking, i.e., when the caregiver’s support network is weak or non-existent. Primary and sole
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caregivers, as well as single caregivers, have a significantly higher likelihood of taking leaves.
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Hence, the presence of others with whom to share responsibility for care (partner or other family members) is a determinant for avoiding the use of leaves. The inference is that, in keeping with the first hypothesis, the characteristics of the dependent person’s social network are key elements
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scant use is the lack of remuneration. Indeed, this is one of the causes that inform men’s low use
in the decision to take such leaves. Specifically, leaves are a strategy resorted to when the caregiving burden is very heavy and no other support is at hand. The work-related variables defined (type of contract, public or private sector) were not found to be significant in the descriptive analysis. That may be for a number of reasons. On the one hand,
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the reference period, up to 12 years, may have blurred the recollection of the working conditions associated with the leave, and on the other, the size of the sample may have been too small to draw conclusions. The analysis of the explicit reasons given by respondents for not taking leaves,
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in contrast, does reveal the existence, among others, of financial and work-related considerations. The findings show that one major reason is the foreseeable reduction in income during the leave,
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tend to be lower, are particularly sensitive. Those who have been giving care for longest may, in retrospect, perceive that leave-taking involves higher costs. Caregivers with the least stable jobs,
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and particularly women, view leave-taking as something that would jeopardize their careers or even their ongoing employment. A similar perception is reported by people eligible for childcare leaves (Hooker, Neathey, Casebourne and Munro, 2007; Romero-Balsas, Muntanyola-Saura and Rogero-García, 2013). That more such leaves are taken by women is attributable to gender
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norms.
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Caregivers also allege reasons that reflect their expectations and aspirations respecting ideal care: i.e., the actors they deem should provide the care their dependent family members need and the
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associated circumstances. These expectations are indicative of insufficiencies in the legal framework and public support measures and services, as assumed in the initial hypotheses. Thus, leave-taking to avoid overburdening other family members or having to institutionalize the
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to which caregivers with the most intense and long-lasting burden, and women, whose salaries
dependent person reveals caregivers’ self-assumption of the responsibility for care, through which they (voluntarily or for reasons of necessity) release other potential actors, inside or outside the family, of that responsibility.
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The main limitation to this study is related to the size of the sample of people who used leaves to care for adults. The number of cases reported rules out any descriptive characterization of this type of caregivers. Another limitation that should be borne in mind when interpreting the
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findings is that the absence in the sample of caregivers over the age of 60 may have led to the over-representation of younger caregivers. A sample covering caregivers of all possible ages
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information for a 12-year period furnished by respondents in retrospect. While providing a broader view, that perspective limits the possibility of capturing the work and family context in
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which the decision to opt for a leave or otherwise was taken. A need is therefore identified for periodic and harmonized statistical operations with a large enough sample size to obtain significant information on the measures and decisions for reconciling work and caregiving. Future studies should explore motivations and obstacles in greater depth to examine this public
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policy from a qualitative perspective.
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The legal (public policy), work- (characteristics of the labor market), gender norm- and familyrelated (support from other family members, degree of dependence) factors initially identified
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have a heavy impact on leave-taking decisions. More specifically, the design of public benefits for dependent persons and the labor market scenario in terms of job stability and protection are key elements in understanding the possible use of these resources.
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would be needed to supplement the present findings. Moreover, the findings are based on
The present findings can be used to establish public policy guidelines. Leaves make it possible to provide care when necessary without having to forgo paid work (Hill, Thomson, Bittman and Griffiths, 2008). The present study showed, however, that their use comes at an occupational cost
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and that caregiver leaves have been under-used in Spain. If the aim is to encourage their use, such leaves should be remunerated to neutralize the loss of income resulting from absence from work. Measures should also be taken to guarantee employment and eliminate any penalties
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deriving from the use of leaves upon return to work. That would entail guaranteeing by law that upon their return, employees are entitled to the same rights and working conditions as prior to
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men and women to contribute to balancing each sex’s role in paid work and family obligations (Daly, 2011). In the broader picture, such a recommendation would call for structural measures
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in connection with the distribution of paid and unpaid work. Caregiver leaves must also be accessible to all working caregivers under the same conditions, irrespective of the type of contract (temporary or permanent), job category, industry or company size, because temporary workers with no supervisory responsibilities and small company employees are the persons most
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liable to have to forgo paid work when they become caregivers (Hill, Thomson, Bittman and Griffiths, 2008). Finally, in addition to strengthening leave policy, the diversity and scope of
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public services must be widened to limit the adverse consequences of caregiving, not only
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occupationally speaking, but in all of life’s many dimensions.
Funding
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taking the leave. Mechanisms should likewise be instituted to equalize the access to leaves by
This study was co-funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation under projects CSO200911328 and CSO2013-44097-R, both headed by Gerardo Meil, Department of Sociology, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain.
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References Bettio, F. & Verashchagina, A. (2012). Long-Term Care for elderly. Provisions and providers in
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33 European countries. Luxemburg: European Commission.
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Castora-Binkley, M., Noelker, L. S., Ejaz, F. K., & Rose, M. (2010). Inclusion of caregiver supports and services in home-and community-based service programs: recent reports from state
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Castro García, C., & Pazos Morán, M. (2008). Permisos de maternidad, paternidad y parentales
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en Europa: algunos elementos para el análisis de la situación actual. In XV Encuentro de Economía Pública: políticas públicas y migración. Madrid.
Daly, M. (2011). What Adult Worker Model? A Critical Look at Recent Social Policy Reform in Europe from a Gender and Family Perspective. Social Politics, 18 (1): 1-23.
ed
Durán, M.A. (2012). El trabajo no remunerado en la economía global. Bilbao: Fundación BBVA.
pt
EPEC, European Policy Evaluation Consortium (2011). Study on the costs and benefits of possible measures on carers' leave – Draft final Report. Brussels: European Commission, DG
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Justice.
Eurofound (2009). Second European Quality of Life Survey. Dublin: European Foundation for
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units on aging. Journal of Aging & Social Policy, 23 (1): 19-33.
the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. www.eurofound.europa.eu European Commission (2009). Ageing Report: Economic and Budgetary Projections for the EU27 Member States (2008–2060). Brussels: European Commission.
19
European Council (2010). Council Directive 2010/18/EU of 8 March 2010 implementing the revised Framework Agreement on parental leave. EUROSTAT (2009). Reconciliation between work, private and family life in European Union.
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t
http://epp.eurostat.eu
García Sainz, C., Santos Pérez, M.L. & Valencia Olivero, N.Y. (2014). La construcción social
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Laborales, 32 (1): 101-131.
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Hessel, P. & Keck, W. (2009). State of the art report: How caring for an adult person affects employment? Equalsoc.http://equalsoc.org/uploaded_files/regular/hessel-keck-elderly-care-andemployment.pdf.
Hill, T., Thomson, C., Bittman, M. & Griffiths, M. (2008). What kinds of jobs help carers
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combine care and employment? Family Matters, 80: 27-32. Hooker, H., Neathey, F., Casebourne, J. & Munro, M. (2007). The Third Work-Life Balance
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Employee Survey: Main findings. Employment Relations Research Series - Institute for
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Employment Studies, 58.
IMSERSO-CSIC (2012). Estadísticas del sistema para la autonomía y la atención a la dependencia. Situación a 1 de enero de 2012. Madrid: IMSERSO-CSIC.
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del mercado laboral doméstico en España a comienzos del siglo XXI. Cuadernos de Relaciones
INE (2012). Spanish Labor Force Survey. www.ine.es Lahey, K. A. & de Villota, P. (2013). Economic Crisis, Gender Equality, and Policy Responses in Spain and Canada. Feminist Economics, 19 (3): 82-107.
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Lapuerta, I., Baizán, P., & González, M. J. (2011). Individual and institutional constraints: An analysis of parental leave use and duration in Spain. Population Research and Policy Review, 30 (2): 185-210.
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t
Lero, D. S., Richardson, J. & Korabik, K. (2009). Cost-Benefit Review of Work-Life Balance
Practices – 2009. University of Guelph: The Canadian Association of Administrators of Labour
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Meil, G., García Sainz, C., Luque, M. A. & Ayuso, L. (2007). El desafío de la conciliación de la
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vida privada y laboral en las grandes empresas. Madrid: Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Ministerio de Empleo y Seguridad Social (2013). Anuario de Estadísticas del Ministerio de Empleo y Seguridad Social. www.meyss.es
Moreno Mínguez, A. (2007). Familia y empleo de la mujer en los regímenes de bienestar del sur
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de Europa. Madrid: Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas. Moss, P. (ed.) (2013). International Review of Leave Policies and Related Research 2013. Network
on
pt
International
Leave
Policies
and
Research.
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http://www.leavenetwork.org/fileadmin/Leavenetwork/Annual_reviews/2013_complete.6june.pd
Muntanyola Saura, D., & Romero Balsas, P. (2013). Interviewing and surveying over the phone:
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Legislation (CAALL). Centre for Families, Work and Well-Being.
a reflexive account of a research on parenting. Quality & Quantity, 48 (5): 2615-2630. OECD (2011). Help Wanted? Providing and Paying for Long-term Care. Paris: OECD.
21
Rodríguez, V. (ed.) 2012. Inmigración y cuidados de mayores en la Comunidad de Madrid. Madrid: Fundación BBVA. Rogero-García, J. & Ahmed-Mohamed, K. (2014). What is the best care for community-dwelling
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t
dependent adults? Sources of care and perception of unmet needs in Spain. Revista Internacional de Sociología, 72 (2): 403-427.
us
informal caregivers attending to community-dwelling older adults in Spain. European Journal of
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Ageing, 8 (2): 95-107.
Romero-Balsas, P. (2012). Fathers taking paternity leave in Spain: which characteristics foster and which hampers the use of paternity leave? Sociologia E Politiche Sociali 15: 106-131. Romero-Balsas, P., Muntanyola-Saura, D. & Rogero-García, J. (2013). Decision-Making Factors
ed
within Paternity and Parental Leaves: Why Spanish Fathers Take Time Off from Work. Gender, Work & Organization, 20 (6): 678-691.
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Spanish Act 39/2006. 2006. Official State Gazette (BOE).
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Spanish Sociological Research Centre (2012). Survey 2972. December 2012. www.cis.es
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Rogero-García, J. & Rosenberg, M.W. (2011). Paid and unpaid support received by co-resident
22
Table 1. Characteristics of caregiver leaves Use
2.4
22
896
0.8
7
896
3.2
29
896
M an
us
Reduction of working hours
Leave of absence
Mean
ed
Total
ce
pt
Hourly reduction per day
Duration of part-time work (years)
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(%)
N
cr ip
n caregivers
Duration of leave of absence (years)
Caregiver age
23
t
among
St. Dev
N
2.8
1.1
21
2.9
3.4
16
0.5
0.4
5
46.4
10.1
29
Dependent person’s age (part-time work and 70.4
17.2
cr ip us M an ed pt ce Ac
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Source: Encuesta sobre el uso de permisos parentales en España 2012.
21
t
leave)
24
Table 2. Percentage of caregiver leave users over total caregivers, 1999 to 2012 n
N
χ² P value
0.001
1.5
7
477
Female
5.3 22
419
0.003
3.1 17
ed
Partnered
M an
Caregiver marital status
us
Male
9
553
94
pt
9.6
0.000
ce
Degree of disability
Mild or moderate
2.4
8
339
Severe
4.9 16
326
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Caregiver sex
Single
cr ip
t
%
25
0.000
Primary caregiver
6.7 22
328
No
1.2
569
cr ip
7
0.025
5.8 11
Yes
2.5 18
pt
Yes
ce
No
706
0.002
ed
Living with dependent person
190
M an
No
us
Support from other family members
5.2 24
461
1.5
342
5
Note: none of the following variables was found to be significant at
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t
Yes
level 0.1: “duration of caregiving", "support from non-family
members", "kinship", "caregiver age", “caregiver level of education”, “type
of
present
employment
contract”,
26
“sector
of
present
employment”, “existence of children”, “town/city size”.
cr ip us M an ed pt ce Ac
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t
Source: Encuesta sobre el uso de permisos parentales en España 2012.
27
Table 3. Reasons for taking a caregiver leave
21
55.0
16
43.2
M an
To palliate the unavailability of public resources
us
To avoid placing the person in a home
13
37.1
11
To avoid paying for a caregiver or home
28.1
8
20.0
6
ed
To avoid overburdening other family members
pt
To reduce work-induced stress or fatigue
ce
Source: Encuesta sobre el uso de permisos parentales en España 2012.
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71.0
cr ip
To spend more time with the family
n
t
%
28
Support from partner or other family members
60.7
378
Compatible working hours
44.2
275
Excessive loss of income
39.3
us
ed
Adverse impact on job security
240
M an
Inconceivability at place of work
pt
Adverse impact on career
ce
Dependent person’s attendance at day centre
Preference to devote more time to work
Requests for such leaves frowned upon
21.5
133
19.2
100
13.8
72
12.4
77
6.8
42
6.4
40
Source: Encuesta sobre el uso de permisos parentales en España
29
t
n
cr ip
%
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Table 4. Reasons for not requesting a caregiver leave (multiple response)
ed
pt
ce
Ac
t
cr ip
us
M an
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2012.
30
Table 5. Logit regression model for the likelihood of wielding different reasons for not taking a caregiver leave Model 2. Adverse
Model 3. Support
loss of income
impact on job
from partner or other
t
Model 1. Excessive
cr ip
OR
0.734
0.927
0.149
1.651
0.818
1.057
0.051
1.648
0.118
1.814
0.442
1.220
0.400
0.809
0.374
0.725
0.623
1.134
Frequency of care (ref.: every day day)
Less
ce
every
P value
0.757
pt
Over 6
nearly
0.237
M an
2-6 years
OR
ed
or under)
or
P value
OR
0.048
Years caring for the person (ref.: 2
family members
us
P value
frequently
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security
Degree of dependence (ref.: mild)
0.029
Moderate
0.003
0.088
2.896
31
0.021
0.282
3.951
0.499
0.798
Severe
Initially
mild/moderate.
later
0.028
2.131
0.049
3.198
0.632
1.166
0.025
2.184
0.197
2.198
0.358
1.357
t 0.047
Respondent and other(s)
1.119
0.015
Contract type (ref.: permanent)
0.000
0.437
0.603
1.360
0.011
2.008
1.205
0.000
3.632
0.875
ed
pt ce
Other
0.561
0.646
Kinship (ref.: father/mother)
Father-/mother-in-law
cr ip
No
0.738
us
0.026
M an
Primary caregiver (ref.: Yes)
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moderate/severe
0.099
0.923
0.972
0.762
1.125
0.246
1.443
0.004
0.449
0.755
0.893
0.131
0.676
0.046
0.028
0.020
Temporary
0.115
1.951
0.009
5.668
0.741
0.864
Non wage-earner
0.079
0.467
0.586
0.525
0.005
0.330
32
0.509
1.148
0.000
3.129
0.050
1.520
Sex (ref.: male)
0.028
1.582
0.941
0.978
0.286
0.799
Constant
0.000
0.264
0.000
Chi-
squared=47.551.
0.422
Chi-squared=55.663. p
ISSN: 0895-9420 (Print) 1545-0821 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wasp20
Caregiver Leave-Taking in Spain: Rate, Motivations, and Barriers Jesús Rogero-García PhD & Cristina García-Sainz PhD To cite this article: Jesús Rogero-García PhD & Cristina García-Sainz PhD (2016): Caregiver Leave-Taking in Spain: Rate, Motivations, and Barriers, Journal of Aging & Social Policy, DOI: 10.1080/08959420.2016.1145506 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08959420.2016.1145506
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Date: 01 February 2016, At: 23:52
J. ROGERO-GARCÍA AND C. GARCÍA-SAINZ JOURNAL OF AGING & SOCIAL POLICY
Jesús Rogero-García, PhDa and Cristina García-Sainz, PhDb
Lecturer, Department of Sociology, Faculty of the College of Economics and Business, Autonomous University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
us
b
Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Faculty of the College of Economics and Business, Autonomous University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain
Spain. Received May 6, 2014
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CONTACT Jesús Rogero-García, PhD, Lecturer, [email protected], Department of Sociology, Faculty of the College of Economics and Business, Autonomous University of Madrid, Campus de Cantoblanco, C/ Fco. Tomás y Valiente 5, 28049 Madrid,
ed
Accepted October 12, 2015
pt
Abstract: This paper aims to (1) determine the rate of (full- and part-time) caregiver leave-
ce
taking in Spain, (2) identify the reasons conducive to a more intense use of this resource, and (3) ascertain the main obstacles to its use, as perceived by caregivers. All 896 people covered by the sample were engaging in paid work and had cared for dependent adults in the last 12 years. This
Ac
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a
cr ip
t
Caregiver Leave-Taking in Spain: Rate, Motivations, and Barriers
resource, in particular the full-time alternative, was found to be a minority option. The data showed that legal, work-related, family and gender norm issues are the four types of factors that determine the decision to take such leaves. The most significant obstacles to their use are the forfeiture of income and the risk of losing one’s job. Our results suggest that income replacement
1
during a leave would increase the take up of these resources. Moreover, enlargement of public care services would promote the use of leave as a free choice of caregivers.
t
Keywords: Adult care; caregiver leaves; employment conditions; informal caregivers
cr ip
us
For approximately the last 20 years, a number of countries have been developing and implementing public policies in connection with family caregiving. In the last few years
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especially, in most European countries (Moss, 2013) and a number of U.S. states (CastoraBrinkley, Noelker, Ejaz and Rose, 2010), the measures adopted include the institution of leaves to enable families to care for people in their homes, although the regulation and use of such breaks differ significantly from country to country. These leaves or breaks, known as “caregiver
ed
leaves”, consist essentially of shortening the normal working day (part-time leave) or interrupting work altogether (full-time leave) for a given period of time to care for an elderly, ill
pt
or disabled family member. The legislation on caregiver leaves differs from the provisions
ce
applied to care for children both in Spain and other European countries. While the measures for reconciling work and childcare are fairly well developed in Europe, the initiatives focusing on adult caregiving, including caregiver leaves, have lagged behind (OECD, 2011). No European
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Introduction
guideline is in place to harmonize practice and application varies widely (EPEC, 2011; OECD, 2011; Bettio and Verashchagina, 2012). Caregiver leaves are designed to guarantee workers’ right to care for dependent family members. In Spain, Act 39/1999 broadened the scope of such leaves, formerly restricted to caring for
2
“physically or mentally disabled” persons (Workers’ By-laws, 1980), to include one-year leaves of absence to care for a “family member up to the second degree of kinship who for reasons of age, accident, disease or disability is unable to care for him/herself and who engages in no
cr ip
t
remunerated activity”. Employees who have been with a company for at least one year are eligible for such leaves. Act 3/2007 subsequently extended the duration of leaves to 2 years and
us
reduction of hours were elasticized and social security coverage was improved by crediting workers with full-time work during the first year. Since despite the legislative support in place,
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such leaves are scantly used in Spain, studies are in order on the underlying reasons for this situation and the effects of leave-taking on worker performance and careers (Lero, Richardson and Korabik, 2009; Eurofound, 2009).
ed
Despite the growing number of studies conducted in recent years on dependent adults and public policies, no specific analysis of the extent of caregivers’ leave-taking in Spain has been found in
pt
the literature. This article aims to contribute to filling that gap, by: 1. determining the rate of leave-taking to care for adults in Spain; 2. identifying the reasons associated with a more
ce
frequent use of leaves, and 3. ascertaining the main work- and non-work-related obstacles to their use from the standpoint of caregivers who do not take leaves.
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guaranteed social security coverage during the first. For part-time leaves, the requirements on the
In Europe, a greater demand for family caregiving may be expected in the not-very-distant future due to the imbalance between the numbes of young and old (Durán, 2012; Bettio and Verashchagina, 2012; EUROSTAT, 2009), especially in societies where public services and reconciliation measures are scantly developed. The management of these developments will
3
consequently be one of the key factors of future social organization and necessitate the adoption of public measures. Moreover, European equal opportunity and social cohesion goals have put reconciliation policies on most European governments’ agendas. Gender inequalities have been
cr ip
t
identified in the distribution of family caregiving and paid work. Women’s majority role as caregivers often has an adverse impact on their careers (Hessel and Keck, 2009; Meil, García
us
tool for addressing family caregiving and furthering co-responsibility in the domestic domain (European Council, 2010), as well as a resource for enhancing women’s and men’s balanced
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participation in the labor market. Leaves have also been seen as avenues that may consolidate or widen the gaps between men and women on the labor market and in the domestic sphere both (Castro García and Pazos Morán, 2008).
ed
In Spain, families indisputably bear most of the responsibility for caring for dependent people. In 2007, 79 % of dependent Spaniards (>5 years old) received care exclusively from family
pt
members. That figure is 20 points higher than the EU-27 average (European Commission, 2009). In 2008, care was administered and paid for privately in around 14 % of the cases (Rogero-
ce
García and Ahmed-Mohamed, 2014). This type of care is normally provided by low-skilled workers, hired unofficially and paid low wages (Rodríguez, 2012). Substantial numbers of these workers are immigrants, especially in urban areas (García Sainz, Santos Pérez y Valencia
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Sainz, Luque and Ayuso, 2009). Caregiver leaves to care for adults are viewed as a necessary
Olivero, 2014). Likewise in 2008, 7 % of the dependent people had access to public service
coverage (Rogero-García and Ahmed-Mohamed, 2014), although that percentage has more than likely declined in the interim as a result of the crisis (Lahey and De Villota, 2013). While the Spanish National Dependency System is funded by the State, the regions (“Autonomous
4
Communities”) are responsible for its implementation (Spanish Act 39/2006). In 2012, the breakdown of total public spending on services and benefits was as follows: the telecare service (monitoring and intervention in emergencies) accounted for 13.5 %, permanent residential care
cr ip
t
for 13.4 %, at-home support services (such as cleaning or cooking) for 12.9 %, the day/night center service (full care during the day or night) for 6.4 %, and preventive services for 1.9%
us
persons or their relatives. The first hypothesis consequently contends that the paucity of public benefits, together with the high cost of private services, encourages the use of leaves among
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employees struggling under a heavy caregiving burden in the absence of family support.
Factors conditioning the use of caregiver leaves
ed
Not all employees with caregiving responsibilities have equal access to leaves to care for adults. Legal, work-related, family and gender norm issues are the four types of factors that condition
pt
their use.
ce
Firstly, the legislation stipulates specific requisites to qualify for this resource and other conditions of use. These requisites and conditions refer to: (1) work-related qualification (such as type of contract and years with the employer); (2) family circumstances (degree of kinship
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(IMSERSO-CSIC 2012). The remaining 52 % consisted of direct payments for dependent
between caregiver and dependent person); (3) remuneration (whether or not leaves are paid, and in the affirmative, definition of the proportion of the salary and who shoulders the cost); (4) duration (minimum and maximum); and (5) guarantee of post-leave employment.
5
Two of the most prominent features of European legislation on leave policies may be its changeability and inter-country diversity, in connection with both eligibility (degree of kinship required and type of employment) and conditions (maximum duration and remuneration) (Bettio
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t
and Verashchagina, 2012; EPEC, 2011). For instance, caregiver leaves are not remunerated in Germany (maximum duration, 6 months per year), France (maximum 3 months), the Netherlands
us
at 22 % of the employee’s salary, paid by the State; in Denmark, paid leaves of up to 6 months per year are available at approximately 50 % of the salary in the private and 100 % in the public
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sector; and Finland provides for leaves of up to 12 months at 70 to 80 % of the unemployment benefit, depending on number of years with the employer, sector and type of employment (EPEC, 2011; Bettio and Verashchagina, 2012). In Europe as a whole, part-time work is regarded not as “leave” but as one of several options envisaged by companies to elasticize
ed
working schedules (for reasons of family caregiving).
pt
The second type of factors that, together with legal considerations, condition the use of caregiver leaves are job-related. The labor market situation is a primary factor when applying for caregiver
ce
leave, for high unemployment and job insecurity constrain the exercise of workers’ rights. According to the Spanish “Labor Force Survey” (INE, 2012), in this year unemployment was upward of 25 % and according to the Spanish Sociological Research Centre (2012) (survey
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(30 days per year) or Spain. In contrast, Belgium provides for leaves of up to 260 days per year
2972), 22.3 % of employees believed that they were likely to lose their jobs within a year. In light of the foregoing, the second hypothesis is that, in a context of high unemployment and job insecurity, the risk of losing one’s job and the foreseeable forfeiture of career opportunities upon return after a leave deter employed caregivers from requesting such leaves.
6
A third group of factors that conditions access to leaves to care for adults is cultural and related to gender norms. In Spain, as in most Mediterranean countries, both the family-based organization of care (Moreno Mínguez, 2007) and the distribution of paid work reinforce
cr ip
t
women’s bond to the domestic realm. The traditional attribution of family caregiving to women (Badgett and Folbre, 1999; Torns, 2008; Durán, 2012) affects men’s and women’s decisions
us
both male and female wage earners. On the one hand, men have no need to take leaves when women altruistically assume the task of caring for family members. On the other, Spanish
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women’s weaker position on the labor market in terms of salaries and job stability discourages them from applying for leaves. That notwithstanding, the vast majority of persons opting to reduce their working hours and apply for leaves to care for relatives are women, a fact that further weakens their employability. Of the 6 122 leaves recorded in 2012 to care for adult
ed
relatives, 88.7% were taken by women (Ministerio de Empleo y Seguridad Social, 2013).
pt
The fourth group of factors that condition the use of leaves has to do with family circumstances. The first of these is the adult’s degree of dependence, which determines the intensity of care
ce
needed (Durán, 2012). Secondly, the relationship with the dependent person is an essential factor when deciding on whether to apply for a leave. Thirdly, the family support network conditions the time devoted by caregivers, for the smaller the network of potential participants, the greater
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about paid work. The third hypothesis is that these gender norms discourage leave-taking among
is the concentration of tasks to be assumed by each individual (Rogero-García and Rosenberg,
2011). Leave-taking may plausibly be assumed to rise when other family support is lacking. Fourthly, caregivers’ career and family expectations and aspirations, against the backdrop of
gender norms, are relevant to understanding leave-taking decisions.
7
Methodology This paper draws from the statistics published in the “Encuesta sobre el uso de los permisos
cr ip
t
parentales” (survey on the use of caregiver leaves), which aimed to ascertain the family, economic and social circumstances, as well as the advantages and drawbacks, that condition the
us
additional information on the participation of different actors in the care for minors under the age of 13. The representative random sample of Spain covered 4 000 telephone interviews with
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adults between the ages of 25 and 60 conducted between January and March 2012. While telephone surveys are subject to the bias inherent in the use of this vehicle for communication, such as the problem of coverage, they have proven to be sufficiently valid and reliable (Muntanyola Saura and Romero Balsas, 2013). Sampling was subject to minimum sex and age
ed
quotas. The data were weighted for these two variables. The sub-sample analyzed for this study included 896 people who reported having engaged in paid work while caring for a dependent
pt
adult at some time in the 12 years prior to the survey (i.e., since the introduction of caregiver
ce
leaves). A total of 29 respondents reported reducing their working hours or taking a full leave, while the 867 remaining replied to questions about why, as potential beneficiaries, they had not made use of such leaves.
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use of leaves to care for children and adults. This retrospective, cross-sectional survey includes
The “Encuesta sobre el uso de los permisos parentales” constitutes an ideal source of information for determining the rate of leave-taking among potential users and provides information on the context in which leaves are taken and the main motivation for doing so. Information such as furnished by the Spanish Ministry of Employment and Social Security in its Anuario de
8
Estadísticas Laborales (Yearbook of Labor Statistics) (Ministerio de Empleo y Seguridad Social, 2013) lists the number of leaves recorded yearly among the working population, but not the number of potential applicants. Spain’s “Labor Force Survey” (LFS), in turn, contains data on
cr ip
t
employees who work part-time to be able to care for children or (ill, disabled or elderly) adults, but these data are not disaggregated.
us
as employed caregiver or caregiving. While the LFS disaggregates the various activities comprising caregiving, the social security data are drawn from a roster in which leave for that
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purpose depends on employer authorization. Comparison on the European scale, in turn, is hindered by the conceptual and methodological differences among countries, as well as by the existence of different legislative provisions and types of leaves, which include, for instance,
ed
leaves for palliative care, which do not exist in Spain.
In the “Encuesta sobre el uso de los permisos parentales en España”, caregivers were identified
pt
in terms of respondents’ reply to the following question. “Have you cared for (or are you
ce
presently caring for) a dependent person with an accident-related or other disability on a regular and unpaid basis in the last 12 years?” Where the reply was affirmative, to identify the persons who were eligible for leaves, respondents were asked: “Did you engage or are you engaging in
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Moreover, the various sources of information do not apply standardized definitions of terms such
paid work at the same time?” Respondents were asked to report on only one such situation. Where they had provided care for more than one person during the 12 years prior to the interview, they were asked to refer their replies only to the person to whom they had devoted the
9
most time. A total of 26.6 % of caregivers had cared for at least one other adult while attending to the person to whom their replied referred. Firstly, the research strategy consisted of running a descriptive analysis of the use of such leaves
cr ip
t
and the characteristics of the beneficiaries (to collect information relevant to all three hypotheses). Given the small size of the sample of people who had taken caregivers’ leave, these
us
used to identify the profile of caregivers reporting different reasons for not taking leaves. Given the short number of respondents who did take leaves, the study focused on the persons eligible
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for leaves who chose not to take them, and their reasons (n=867). The number of cases varied across the models because different numbers of caregivers responded to the three reasons for not using leaves analyzed in the models. The models drew no distinction between full leaves and
ed
part-time leaves because the aim here was not to differentiate between types of leave but to analyze the cases in which working time was voluntarily reduced.
pt
To that end, the analysis defined three dependent variables, namely the following reasons for not
ce
taking leaves: model 1: "excessive loss of income"; model 2: "adverse impact on job security”; model 3: “support from partner or other relatives”. All were yes/no questions. The first two reasons were chosen to identify the situations where economic or employment-related questions
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results should be interpreted with caution. Secondly, several logistic regression models were then
were decisive in non-leave-taking. The aim of the second was to explore the contexts in which
support from other family members was instrumental to refraining from taking a leave. The following independent variables were included, grouped by factor determining caregiver leaves:
10
1. work-related factors (at the time of the interview): type of contract (“permanent”, “temporary”, “non-wage-earner”), sector (“public”, “private).
t
2. gender norms: sex.
cr ip
3. family factors and context of care: kinship with the dependent person (“your father/mother”,
us
“initially mild/moderate and later moderate/severe”), primary caregiver (“yes”, “no”, “respondent plus another person”), years of caregiving (“2 or less”, “2-6”, “over 6”), frequency
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of care (“every day or nearly”, “less often”).
Results
ed
Just 3.2 % of the persons who had cared for dependent adults in the last 12 years reported having reduced their working hours or taken a full leave for that purpose. In all, 2.4 % reduced their
pt
hours and 0.8 % took a full leave. The mean duration of part-time leaves was 2.9 years and the mean reduction 2.8 hours daily. The mean duration of full leaves was 6 months. The mean age of
ce
caregivers working part-time or not at all was 46.4, very similar to the 45.8 for all other caregivers surveyed (Table 1).
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“your father-/mother-in-law”, “other”), degree of dependence (“mild”, “moderate", “severe”,
The scant use of such leaves made it difficult to obtain a large enough number of cases to reliably run multivariate analysis. Conclusions could be drawn, however, from an analysis of the percentage of use of these leaves by caregiver characteristic and caregiving circumstances (Table 2). The use of leaves was significantly greater among: women (5.3 %), singles (9.6 %),
11
caregivers for people with severe dependence (4.9 %), primary caregivers (6.7 %), sole caregivers (5.8 %) and caregivers who lived with the dependent person (5.2 %). The reasons wielded for taking leave included the desire to spend more time with the family
cr ip
t
(71 %) and to not to have to place the dependent person in a home (55 %) (Table 3). The lack of public resources (43 %) ranked third and the desire not to overburden other family members
us
reduce work-induced stress or fatigue (20 %).
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The reasons most frequently cited for not applying for leave had to do with the perception that it was unnecessary: 60.7 % reported not requesting it because they had support from other family members and 44 % because their working hours were compatible with caregiving. Many caregivers referred to financial or occupational difficulties: 39.3 % deemed that their incomes
ed
would have declined too steeply if they had taken a leave; 21.5 % that such a request was unthinkable in their place of work; 19.2 % that they would have jeopardized their job and 13.8%
pt
that it would have had an adverse effect on their career. Similarly, 12.4 % reported that it was
ce
unnecessary because the dependent person went to a day center, 6.8 % preferred to devote more time to their work and 6.4 % felt that applying for such leaves was frowned upon (Table 4). The logit regression models, in which the dependent variables were the reasons wielded by
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(37 %) fourth. The fifth was to avoid having to pay for formal caregiving (28 %) and the sixth to
caregivers for not taking leaves to care for adults, are given in Table 5. These models included only caregivers for dependent adults who were eligible for leaves but chose not to take one. The purpose was to identify the main obstacles to using leaves by caregivers’ job situation and the
type of care involved. The first two models explored work-related reasons (loss of income and
12
perception of loss of job security), while the third examined the caregiver’s support network (the existence or otherwise of assistance for caregiving). The dependent variable in model 1 was “excessive loss of income”. Further to this model,
cr ip
t
persons with the most intense and long-lasting caregiving burden were the ones most likely to respond that their income would have declined too steeply: more specifically, people caring for
us
caregivers. In the population of non-leave takers, women caregivers were also more likely not to request leaves for reasons of income loss. Lastly, caregivers for parents or spouses were more
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likely to report this reason than those with other relationships with the dependent person. The variables related to working conditions and frequency of care were not found to be significant. The years of care variable was observed to lie on the outer limit of significance.
ed
In model 2 the dependent variable was “adverse impact on job security”. This model revealed that people with a temporary contract or working in the private sector were more likely to see
pt
their job jeopardized than people with a permanent contract or working in the public sector,
ce
respectively. Caregivers for persons with moderate or severe dependence were more likely to reply in this manner than persons caring for mildly dependent adults. In this model, the years and frequency of care, caregiver sex and kinship proved to be insignificant.
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adults with moderate or severe, rather than mild, dependence and who were the primary
The dependent variable in model 3 was “support from partner or other family members”. According to this model, people who were not the primary caregivers were more likely to claim that they did not take a leave because they received help from their partner or other family members. Self-employed workers and public sector employees were less likely to wield this
13
reason than wage earners with permanent contracts and private sector employees. The years of care, degree of dependence, kinship and caregiver sex were not significant.
cr ip
t
Discussion and conclusions This article analyses the use and scope of leaves for caring for dependent adults in Spain. This is
us
designed specifically to gather information on the factors conditioning such use. Such
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information is particularly necessary in the present context of demographic, economic and social change.
The first objective of this study was to determine the rate of leave-taking to care for adults among caregivers with paid work, i.e., who were both potential beneficiaries of such leaves and
ed
legally eligible to request them. The data confirmed that this resource is scantly used, especially compared to leave-taking to care for children (Lapuerta, Baizán and González, 2011; Romero-
pt
Balsas, 2012). Several explanations may be given for these differences. Firstly, the
ce
unpredictability of the onset of dependence and the uncertainty around its duration (Hessel and Keck, 2009) are often obstacles to planning a temporary reduction in working hours. Secondly, social norms on reciprocity in childcare are not applied to the same extent to care for dependent
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the first empirical analysis of this measure conducted on the country that used a data source
adults and the levels of satisfaction vary greatly between the two (Rogero-García and Rosenberg, 2011). Thirdly, due to the belated development of these measures and the scant publicity they have received, potential users are often unaware of them.
14
As might be expected, given the lack of compensation for the loss of income, part-time leaves prevails over full leaves, where the rates of use are particularly low. Part-time leaves lasts substantially longer than full leaves, due essentially to the loss of salary entailed in the latter, as
cr ip
t
well as the anticipation of adverse effects of losing contact with the employer for a relatively long time. As assumed in the second hypothesis, the findings showed that one of the keys to
us
of leaves to care for adults (EPEC, 2011).
The second objective of this study was to identify the reasons most conducive to using these
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leaves, while the closely related third objective, consequently discussed jointly, consisted of determining the main work- and non-work-related obstacles to their use as perceived by caregivers themselves.
ed
The findings show that the use of leaves rises where demand for care is intense and other support is lacking, i.e., when the caregiver’s support network is weak or non-existent. Primary and sole
pt
caregivers, as well as single caregivers, have a significantly higher likelihood of taking leaves.
ce
Hence, the presence of others with whom to share responsibility for care (partner or other family members) is a determinant for avoiding the use of leaves. The inference is that, in keeping with the first hypothesis, the characteristics of the dependent person’s social network are key elements
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scant use is the lack of remuneration. Indeed, this is one of the causes that inform men’s low use
in the decision to take such leaves. Specifically, leaves are a strategy resorted to when the caregiving burden is very heavy and no other support is at hand. The work-related variables defined (type of contract, public or private sector) were not found to be significant in the descriptive analysis. That may be for a number of reasons. On the one hand,
15
the reference period, up to 12 years, may have blurred the recollection of the working conditions associated with the leave, and on the other, the size of the sample may have been too small to draw conclusions. The analysis of the explicit reasons given by respondents for not taking leaves,
cr ip
t
in contrast, does reveal the existence, among others, of financial and work-related considerations. The findings show that one major reason is the foreseeable reduction in income during the leave,
us
tend to be lower, are particularly sensitive. Those who have been giving care for longest may, in retrospect, perceive that leave-taking involves higher costs. Caregivers with the least stable jobs,
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and particularly women, view leave-taking as something that would jeopardize their careers or even their ongoing employment. A similar perception is reported by people eligible for childcare leaves (Hooker, Neathey, Casebourne and Munro, 2007; Romero-Balsas, Muntanyola-Saura and Rogero-García, 2013). That more such leaves are taken by women is attributable to gender
ed
norms.
pt
Caregivers also allege reasons that reflect their expectations and aspirations respecting ideal care: i.e., the actors they deem should provide the care their dependent family members need and the
ce
associated circumstances. These expectations are indicative of insufficiencies in the legal framework and public support measures and services, as assumed in the initial hypotheses. Thus, leave-taking to avoid overburdening other family members or having to institutionalize the
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to which caregivers with the most intense and long-lasting burden, and women, whose salaries
dependent person reveals caregivers’ self-assumption of the responsibility for care, through which they (voluntarily or for reasons of necessity) release other potential actors, inside or outside the family, of that responsibility.
16
The main limitation to this study is related to the size of the sample of people who used leaves to care for adults. The number of cases reported rules out any descriptive characterization of this type of caregivers. Another limitation that should be borne in mind when interpreting the
cr ip
t
findings is that the absence in the sample of caregivers over the age of 60 may have led to the over-representation of younger caregivers. A sample covering caregivers of all possible ages
us
information for a 12-year period furnished by respondents in retrospect. While providing a broader view, that perspective limits the possibility of capturing the work and family context in
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which the decision to opt for a leave or otherwise was taken. A need is therefore identified for periodic and harmonized statistical operations with a large enough sample size to obtain significant information on the measures and decisions for reconciling work and caregiving. Future studies should explore motivations and obstacles in greater depth to examine this public
ed
policy from a qualitative perspective.
pt
The legal (public policy), work- (characteristics of the labor market), gender norm- and familyrelated (support from other family members, degree of dependence) factors initially identified
ce
have a heavy impact on leave-taking decisions. More specifically, the design of public benefits for dependent persons and the labor market scenario in terms of job stability and protection are key elements in understanding the possible use of these resources.
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would be needed to supplement the present findings. Moreover, the findings are based on
The present findings can be used to establish public policy guidelines. Leaves make it possible to provide care when necessary without having to forgo paid work (Hill, Thomson, Bittman and Griffiths, 2008). The present study showed, however, that their use comes at an occupational cost
17
and that caregiver leaves have been under-used in Spain. If the aim is to encourage their use, such leaves should be remunerated to neutralize the loss of income resulting from absence from work. Measures should also be taken to guarantee employment and eliminate any penalties
cr ip
t
deriving from the use of leaves upon return to work. That would entail guaranteeing by law that upon their return, employees are entitled to the same rights and working conditions as prior to
us
men and women to contribute to balancing each sex’s role in paid work and family obligations (Daly, 2011). In the broader picture, such a recommendation would call for structural measures
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in connection with the distribution of paid and unpaid work. Caregiver leaves must also be accessible to all working caregivers under the same conditions, irrespective of the type of contract (temporary or permanent), job category, industry or company size, because temporary workers with no supervisory responsibilities and small company employees are the persons most
ed
liable to have to forgo paid work when they become caregivers (Hill, Thomson, Bittman and Griffiths, 2008). Finally, in addition to strengthening leave policy, the diversity and scope of
pt
public services must be widened to limit the adverse consequences of caregiving, not only
ce
occupationally speaking, but in all of life’s many dimensions.
Funding
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taking the leave. Mechanisms should likewise be instituted to equalize the access to leaves by
This study was co-funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation under projects CSO200911328 and CSO2013-44097-R, both headed by Gerardo Meil, Department of Sociology, Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain.
18
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t
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Castora-Binkley, M., Noelker, L. S., Ejaz, F. K., & Rose, M. (2010). Inclusion of caregiver supports and services in home-and community-based service programs: recent reports from state
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García Sainz, C., Santos Pérez, M.L. & Valencia Olivero, N.Y. (2014). La construcción social
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del mercado laboral doméstico en España a comienzos del siglo XXI. Cuadernos de Relaciones
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Lapuerta, I., Baizán, P., & González, M. J. (2011). Individual and institutional constraints: An analysis of parental leave use and duration in Spain. Population Research and Policy Review, 30 (2): 185-210.
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ed
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pt
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ce
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Rogero-García, J. & Rosenberg, M.W. (2011). Paid and unpaid support received by co-resident
22
Table 1. Characteristics of caregiver leaves Use
2.4
22
896
0.8
7
896
3.2
29
896
M an
us
Reduction of working hours
Leave of absence
Mean
ed
Total
ce
pt
Hourly reduction per day
Duration of part-time work (years)
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(%)
N
cr ip
n caregivers
Duration of leave of absence (years)
Caregiver age
23
t
among
St. Dev
N
2.8
1.1
21
2.9
3.4
16
0.5
0.4
5
46.4
10.1
29
Dependent person’s age (part-time work and 70.4
17.2
cr ip us M an ed pt ce Ac
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Source: Encuesta sobre el uso de permisos parentales en España 2012.
21
t
leave)
24
Table 2. Percentage of caregiver leave users over total caregivers, 1999 to 2012 n
N
χ² P value
0.001
1.5
7
477
Female
5.3 22
419
0.003
3.1 17
ed
Partnered
M an
Caregiver marital status
us
Male
9
553
94
pt
9.6
0.000
ce
Degree of disability
Mild or moderate
2.4
8
339
Severe
4.9 16
326
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Caregiver sex
Single
cr ip
t
%
25
0.000
Primary caregiver
6.7 22
328
No
1.2
569
cr ip
7
0.025
5.8 11
Yes
2.5 18
pt
Yes
ce
No
706
0.002
ed
Living with dependent person
190
M an
No
us
Support from other family members
5.2 24
461
1.5
342
5
Note: none of the following variables was found to be significant at
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t
Yes
level 0.1: “duration of caregiving", "support from non-family
members", "kinship", "caregiver age", “caregiver level of education”, “type
of
present
employment
contract”,
26
“sector
of
present
employment”, “existence of children”, “town/city size”.
cr ip us M an ed pt ce Ac
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t
Source: Encuesta sobre el uso de permisos parentales en España 2012.
27
Table 3. Reasons for taking a caregiver leave
21
55.0
16
43.2
M an
To palliate the unavailability of public resources
us
To avoid placing the person in a home
13
37.1
11
To avoid paying for a caregiver or home
28.1
8
20.0
6
ed
To avoid overburdening other family members
pt
To reduce work-induced stress or fatigue
ce
Source: Encuesta sobre el uso de permisos parentales en España 2012.
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71.0
cr ip
To spend more time with the family
n
t
%
28
Support from partner or other family members
60.7
378
Compatible working hours
44.2
275
Excessive loss of income
39.3
us
ed
Adverse impact on job security
240
M an
Inconceivability at place of work
pt
Adverse impact on career
ce
Dependent person’s attendance at day centre
Preference to devote more time to work
Requests for such leaves frowned upon
21.5
133
19.2
100
13.8
72
12.4
77
6.8
42
6.4
40
Source: Encuesta sobre el uso de permisos parentales en España
29
t
n
cr ip
%
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Table 4. Reasons for not requesting a caregiver leave (multiple response)
ed
pt
ce
Ac
t
cr ip
us
M an
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2012.
30
Table 5. Logit regression model for the likelihood of wielding different reasons for not taking a caregiver leave Model 2. Adverse
Model 3. Support
loss of income
impact on job
from partner or other
t
Model 1. Excessive
cr ip
OR
0.734
0.927
0.149
1.651
0.818
1.057
0.051
1.648
0.118
1.814
0.442
1.220
0.400
0.809
0.374
0.725
0.623
1.134
Frequency of care (ref.: every day day)
Less
ce
every
P value
0.757
pt
Over 6
nearly
0.237
M an
2-6 years
OR
ed
or under)
or
P value
OR
0.048
Years caring for the person (ref.: 2
family members
us
P value
frequently
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security
Degree of dependence (ref.: mild)
0.029
Moderate
0.003
0.088
2.896
31
0.021
0.282
3.951
0.499
0.798
Severe
Initially
mild/moderate.
later
0.028
2.131
0.049
3.198
0.632
1.166
0.025
2.184
0.197
2.198
0.358
1.357
t 0.047
Respondent and other(s)
1.119
0.015
Contract type (ref.: permanent)
0.000
0.437
0.603
1.360
0.011
2.008
1.205
0.000
3.632
0.875
ed
pt ce
Other
0.561
0.646
Kinship (ref.: father/mother)
Father-/mother-in-law
cr ip
No
0.738
us
0.026
M an
Primary caregiver (ref.: Yes)
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moderate/severe
0.099
0.923
0.972
0.762
1.125
0.246
1.443
0.004
0.449
0.755
0.893
0.131
0.676
0.046
0.028
0.020
Temporary
0.115
1.951
0.009
5.668
0.741
0.864
Non wage-earner
0.079
0.467
0.586
0.525
0.005
0.330
32
0.509
1.148
0.000
3.129
0.050
1.520
Sex (ref.: male)
0.028
1.582
0.941
0.978
0.286
0.799
Constant
0.000
0.264
0.000
Chi-
squared=47.551.
0.422
Chi-squared=55.663. p
