Dads care too! Participation in paid employment and experiences of workplace flexibility for Australian fathers caring for children and young adults with disabilities

Abstract

This study uses Australian survey data to explore whether caring for children and young people with disabilities affects paid employment participation of fathers who identify as the secondary caregiver. More fathers in the study were in full-time employment than those in the general Australian population, but they worked fewer hours, often in jobs they did not enjoy or roles with less responsibility. Over one third of fathers reported that caring had impacted on their job opportunities or career progression, particularly those whose children had more severe disabilities. The financial costs of raising a child with disabilities and their caring obligations informed many of the decisions fathers made in relation to employment. Fixed hours of work, lack of understanding from their employer, an income tied to hours worked and staff resources were cited as reasons why almost half of the fathers felt they were unable to access flexible working conditions to assist with their child’s care. Self-employment was seen by many fathers as desirable, but the perceived increase in flexibility may be accompanied by an increase in work hours. Implications for paternal well-being are discussed, along with the lifelong implications of caring on employment and financial security for families in the Australian context.

L’objet de cette étude basée sur des résultats d’enquêtes réalisés en Australie est de déterminer si le fait de s’occuper d’enfants et de jeunes atteints d’un handicap affecte la participation à l’emploi rémunéré des pères reconnus comme dispensateur secondaire de soins. L’étude montre que le nombre de ces pères détenant un emploi à plein temps est supérieur à la moyenne australienne, toutefois produisant un nombre d’heures travaillées inférieur et souvent dans des emplois à forte désaffectation ou à responsabilité moindre. Plus d’un tiers des pères participant à cette étude ont identifié que la dispensation de soins avait affecté négativement leur progression de carrière et leurs choix professionnels particulièrement pour les pères d’enfants à lourd handicap. Les décisions professionnelles de ces pères s’avèrent également fortement influencé par la charge financière liée à l’éducation d’un enfant handicapé et l’obligation de dispense de soins découlant dudit handicap. Près de la moitié des pères ressentent qu’ils ne bénéficient pas de conditions de travail flexibles qui les aiderait dans leur apport de soin à l’enfant et citent des heures de travail fixes, un manque de compréhension de la part de l’employeur, une rémunération liée aux heures travaillées et l’état des ressources internes en personnel comme facteurs de cette constatation. Beaucoup de ces pères ont noté une vraie désirabilité du travail indépendant en général, mais l’avantage perçu de l’accroissement de flexibilité peut s’accompagner parallèlement d’une augmentation du nombre d’heures travaillées. L’étude aborde dans un contexte australien les implications en matière de bien-être paternel ainsi que les implications à long terme de la dispense de soin sur l’emploi et la sécurité financière pour ces familles.

Keywords:

• disability
• work participation
• fathers
• employment
• flexibility
• carers

Mots-clés:

• handicap
• participation à l’emploi
• pères
• employ
• flexibilité
• dispensateur de soins

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Dr Annemarie Wright is a Research Officer in the Department of Knowledge & Innovation at Novita Children' Services. Annemarie completed her Ph.D. in Scotland in 2008 in the area of exercise and health psychology. Her work at Novita has generated increased interest in supporting carers, particularly in terms of work-life balance and well-being. She is also passionate about providing physical activity opportunities for children and young people with a disability, and the link between being active and feeling better.

At the time of the study, Dr Angela Crettenden was a Research Fellow in the Department of Knowledge and Innovation at Novita Children's Services (Novita). Angela completed her Ph.D. in 2008, which involved researching the impact of time stress on the well-being of parents caring for children with developmental disabilities. Her interest in finding better ways to support carers has led to the Juggling Work & Care study and to studies exploring the intersection between disability and child protection. Angela has an extensive background working as a Clinical Psychologist in a range of settings across Australia, specialising in children’s problems and childhood disability.

Dr Natalie Skinner is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Work + Life. She has been undertaking research and publishing in the area of health and well-being in the workplace for many years. She has a particular interest in psychological health (e.g. stress, burnout, and job satisfaction), job quality (work intensity, flexibility and work hours) and work–life interaction. Natalie is currently responsible for managing the Australian Work and Life Index, a measure that was used in the present study.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Channel 7 Children's Research Foundation [grant number 12531].