The Pivot Generation: Informal care and work after 50, published last week by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, says that a decline in the number of young people in the workforce is forcing employers to retain older staff, especially women. The pressure on people in their fifties and sixties to remain in paid jobs meant fewer of them would be available to help their own grown-up children with childcare.
The report found that two in three people between 50 and the retirement ages of 60 and 65 are in paid work, and that by the age of 50, one in three people have grandchildren.
Although some grandparents were prepared to give up work or reduce their hours to look after grandchildren, there was a general reluctance to offer full-time care. Few of the 1,000 employees interviewed by researchers at the Institute of Education's Thomas Coram Research Unit said they wanted to give up their jobs to take up caring responsibilities.
However, the report also found that some older employees are facing greater difficulties with their own 'work-life' balance as they attempt to juggle work with caring for grandchildren or older relatives. Nearly half of the people surveyed had some care responsibility, with one in six providing care for a grandchild and one in ten caring for both a grandchild and an elderly relative. A quarter of the women and an eighth of the men were providing 20 or more hours of childcare a week.
While combining paid work and caring roles gave them satisfaction and pleasure, almost half of those interviewed said caring made their life more stressful.
The report said, 'What emerged was a picture of conscientious employees who were unwilling to let their caring responsibilities affect their ability to do their paid work well. But providing informal care could affect employment, for example by restricting career development.'
June Statham, the report's co-author, said, 'Staff aged over 50 can increasingly expect to find themselves pressurised between employers who want them to stay on, working longer hours, and growing pressure to care informally for grandchildren, their own elderly parents, or both. Without more resources to support carers, both in and out of work, their contribution may not be sustainable.'