The Relationship between Paid Leave and Financial Security Among Working Caregivers of Older Adults

Background and Purpose: Roughly 40 million Americans serve as caregivers for older adults in the U.S. and the number is increasing as our population of older adults with chronic diseases and functional impairments grows. As public policy and personal preferences help to shift care from institutions to in-home settings, the demands placed on family/informal caregivers also increase. Prior research has demonstrated that caregiving is often expensive for caregivers, resulting in not just increased out-of-pocket expenses, but also concurrent loses in wages and savings. Less explored is the potential role of paid leave in minimizing the risk of financial insecurity among caregivers. The aim of the present study was to test whether access to any type of paid leave was associated with reductions in self-reported financial insecurity among caregivers for older adults.  

Methods: In a pilot study of Colorado-based caregivers, we used snowball sampling to enroll self-identified caregivers of adults aged 60 and above from diverse communities across the state to measure aspects of caregivers’ financial security (e.g. trouble paying bills, ability to get along on income), wellbeing (physical health, mental health, caregiver strain, benefits of caregiving), and the presence of supportive workplace policies (such as paid leave and flexible scheduling) along with potential covariates (e.g., caregiver demographics, health characteristics, social support, and service utilization). Research questions were addressed through multivariate regression.

Results: Participants were predominantly women (86%; n=61) and White (75%; n=53), with 25% (n=18) identifying as Latinx. Caregivers ranged in age from 21 to 80, with a median age of 56. Roughly half of those surveyed were working at least part-time, with 41 participants (58%) reporting some employment income. Another 16% (n=11) had quit work because of caregiving responsibilities and an equal number had reduced work hours. Among those who continued to work, hours per week spent caregiving and unpaid days off were positively associated with financial insecurity, whereas paid days off and overall duration of caregiving were negatively associated with financial insecurity.

Discussion: Findings lend support to the hypothesis that access to paid family leave may help protect family caregivers from the negative financial impacts of caregiving, while unpaid days off—which are all that are required through the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)—may in fact lead to increased financial insecurity. Currently, only about 13% of private sector workers in the U.S. have access to paid family leave through their employers, though paid family leave policies are being considered and implemented in an increasing number of states and jurisdictions. In fact, paid family leave has been identified as a key policy priority associated with the “Grand Challenges for Social Work.” Discussion will include exploration of how these types of policy innovations may affect the growing number of informal caregivers of older adults as well as directions for future research on the role of paid leave policies in supporting those caregivers.