Caring for a loved one and managing a job is a significant challenge, but balancing some care responsibilities with some paid work provides working caregivers with emotional benefits. That was the finding of new research from the University of Michigan.

However, working caregivers who balance their care duties with some paid work experience emotional benefits. The researchers drew on a national study of family caregivers to older adults and found that those who split their time between part-time care and part-time paid work reported similar levels of well-being as those who took the day off from both responsibilities.

Participants who were part-time workers or did not work at all on the prior day also reported similar levels of well-being. On the other hand, those who combined care duties with full-time work on the prior day reported worse well-being, and some full-time workers experienced lower levels of well-being than others.

Care responsibilities

The researchers analyzed time diary interviews collected from the National Study of Caregiving. In the interviews, caregivers reported the various activities they had performed the previous day, as well as details about how they felt as they performed a range of randomly selected tasks.

“Caregivers who worked a late shift, evening or overnight on the prior day, stand out from other working caregivers as experiencing more negative emotions,” the researchers explain.

They say that individuals who have to balance the demands of full-time work and caring for older adults may experience additional stress. This relationship between balancing work and care responsibilities and emotional well-being appears to be similar for both men and women.

“Often there can be a lack of flexibility with full-time work,” they continue. “During the day, it’s harder to run errands or take someone to the doctor if you have to return to work. Late-shift workers may find daytime caregiving responsibilities especially stressful.”

In contrast, when caregivers worked a limited number of hours, they seemed to enjoy an emotional payoff. The researchers believe that in these instances, work was providing a degree of respite from their caregiving responsibilities.