CAREANDWORK · Male Family Caregiver’s Well-being: Balancing Work and Long-Term Care in France and Japan

Male Family Caregiver’s Well-being: Balancing Work and Long-Term Care in France and Japan

Rapid demographic ageing in Europe, as highlighted in Horizon 2020 health priorities, makes the challenge of long-term care increasingly pressing. Despite substantial discussions on caregivers in policy making and academic research, a rapidly emerging new group of middle-aged male family caregivers, who care for their aged family members and often also work, are largely understudied and may potentially face the challenge of giving up their employment. Inadequate understanding of gendered caregivers jeopardises not only carers but also care receivers, other family members and society as a whole: better outcomes for the elderly are substantially dependent on the well-being of caregivers. For Europe it is relevant and timely to learn from ‘super-aged’ Japan about such gendered carers’ practices; yet, learnings need to be contextualised to reflect European societies, such as France’s highly developed family policies. Hence, CAREANDWORK aimed to address the gap in understanding of gendered male family care practices to inform policy development. CAREANDWORK aims to address three objectives that involve a focus within each of Japan and France and a comparison across the countries. In focusing on each country, one domain focused on is middle-aged male carers’ family context. Specifically, how the family domain shapes what such men do themselves in providing care and how this depends on their being male, their gender, as care is often implicitly associated with female carers. A second objective is to consider such men’s work context, with an emphasis on the policies, of both government and employer organisations, that shape the choices such men face in potentially adapting their work to their care role. A third objective is to assess such issues in a comparative perspective, to contrast and learn from the diverse experiences in France and Japan. Throughout, the aim is to provide insights into the novel phenomena of middle-aged men’s involvement in care for their aged relatives. CAREANDWORK addressed these objectives through in-depth fieldwork in Japan and France, comprising interviews with men involved care for their aged family members, complemented by an understanding of broader social, cultural, economic and political factors that shape public policies. Thus, a main contribution is to connect men’s social and work context and their family relations to an in-depth understanding of their care practices, so as to address an important aspect of societal ageing that is central to these men, their family life as well as to broader society.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз