Something’s Gotta Give: The Relationship Between Time in Eldercare, Time in Childcare, and Employee Wellbeing

Duxbury L., Halinski M., Stevenson M.

Journal of Aging and Health, vol.34, no.6-8, pp.1101-1116, 2022 (SSCI) identifier identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 34 Issue: 6-8
  • Publication Date: 2022
  • Doi Number: 10.1177/08982643221092876
  • Journal Name: Journal of Aging and Health
  • Journal Indexes: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, Abstracts in Social Gerontology, AgeLine, CAB Abstracts, CINAHL, EMBASE, Gender Studies Database, Index Islamicus, MEDLINE, Psycinfo, Social services abstracts, Sociological abstracts
  • Page Numbers: pp.1101-1116
  • Keywords: resource theory, caregiving, stress, depression, caregiver strain, family-role overload
  • TED University Affiliated: No

Abstract

© The Author(s) 2022.While existing research indicates that “sandwiched” employees (those with both childcare and eldercare demands) have lower wellbeing than employees with only eldercare demands, there is little understanding how childcare and eldercare demands interact to create those differences. Drawing on two studies, we hypothesize childcare demands amplify the negative impact of eldercare demands on wellbeing. Study 1 operationalizes childcare as a dichotomous variable (i.e., has childcare or not), and examines the relationship between hours per week in eldercare and wellbeing for two groups of employees: those with eldercare and those in the sandwich generation. Study 2, which operationalizes childcare as a continuous variable (i.e., hours in childcare per week), explores how time in childcare moderates the relationship between time in eldercare and wellbeing. Findings show time in eldercare is negatively associated with wellbeing, and the impact of childcare on the relationship between time in eldercare and wellbeing is dependent on how one operationalizes wellbeing and childcare constructs.