Expanding the Second Shift: Exploring Women's Work in Elder Care
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK
2010
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1267795261 |
| id |
ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-ucin1267795261 |
|---|---|
| record_format |
oai_dc |
| spelling |
ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-ucin12677952612021-08-03T06:13:52Z Expanding the Second Shift: Exploring Women's Work in Elder Care Boop, Donielle L. Families and Family Life gender intergenerational relationships caregiving <p>Informal caregivers provide the backbone of elder care-work. Current estimates suggest that between 30 and 38 million Americans (age 18 and older) provide care to an aging adult with limited functioning. Although they often go unrecognized in public policy discussions, these family members, friends, and neighbors provide the majority of long-term services and support to the aged and disabled. However, researchers have become increasingly aware of the need for informal caregivers as public concern grows over the sustainability of Social Security, as well as the potential lack of adequate formal care, in the near future. Although more attention is being given to concerns about physical availability, the concern over whether or not informal caregivers are mentally and emotionally prepared to handle elder care-work is noticeably lagging. To better understand the caregiver experience, this study evaluates contributing factors for caregiver stress among individuals caring for someone aged 65 or older. </p><p>Using the 2004 National Survey of Informal Caregivers I argue: (1) greater involvement in caregiving increases caregiver stress; (2) access to social and emotional support alleviates caregiver stress; and (3) living with the care recipient increases caregiver stress. I also argue that the way elder care-work is experienced reflects a new dimension of Hochschild’s (1989) work on the “second shift.” For this reason, I expect to find that women disproportionately experience caregiver stress compared to men because the act of “caregiving” is closely tied to gendered notions of mothering and femininity. Thus, I expect women to be more emotionally invested in and critical of their care-work than men. When care-work is done “in the home” it is subject to even greater scrutiny because the “home” represents a “woman’s domain.” Using OLS regression technique and a sample of 519 informal caregivers, this study finds that extent of care, social support, and gender significantly influence the level of stress experienced by caregivers. Having access to an available social network alleviates stress while the number of care-related tasks and ‘being female’ increases caregiver stress. Using the ‘Second Shift’ as a framework, this analysis suggests that interpreting elder care-work as a dimension of the larger gendered identity of “caregiver” will help expose gendered inequities in emotional labor among elder caregivers.</p> 2010-04-08 English text University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1267795261 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1267795261 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws. |
| collection |
NDLTD |
| language |
English |
| sources |
NDLTD |
| topic |
Families and Family Life gender intergenerational relationships caregiving |
| spellingShingle |
Families and Family Life gender intergenerational relationships caregiving Boop, Donielle L. Expanding the Second Shift: Exploring Women's Work in Elder Care |
| author |
Boop, Donielle L. |
| author_facet |
Boop, Donielle L. |
| author_sort |
Boop, Donielle L. |
| title |
Expanding the Second Shift: Exploring Women's Work in Elder Care |
| title_short |
Expanding the Second Shift: Exploring Women's Work in Elder Care |
| title_full |
Expanding the Second Shift: Exploring Women's Work in Elder Care |
| title_fullStr |
Expanding the Second Shift: Exploring Women's Work in Elder Care |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Expanding the Second Shift: Exploring Women's Work in Elder Care |
| title_sort |
expanding the second shift: exploring women's work in elder care |
| publisher |
University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK |
| publishDate |
2010 |
| url |
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1267795261 |
| work_keys_str_mv |
AT boopdoniellel expandingthesecondshiftexploringwomensworkineldercare |
| _version_ |
1719433118076633088 |