The workforce is getting older. There are currently three million working carers โ people who combine full time careers with looking after an elderly parent. By 2031 there will be six million. The demographics are startling, but thereโs some good news on the horizon, says Ben Black
What is that exactly?
Employers are becoming more interested in helping working carers. Itโs all part of the flexible working agenda. You can send an email from home, take a call from anywhere, and โout of the officeโ often doesnโt mean actually not working. The primary consequence of flexibility is that people are judged on performance and outputs rather than face-time in the office. Those who benefit most from flexible working are those that need some flexibility. That tends to be parents, but increasingly, carers as well. Employers have cottoned on quite quickly. Give parents and carers enough flexibility to manage the competing demands of work and family, and they will be loyal and engaged members of any team.
What are the challenges?
Well a few; and as ever, most are financial. Mothers have always been a vocal bunch, demanding all kinds of extra support to help them through what is a very difficult transition. But mothers, and dads too, have a number of advantages. First of all you make a positive decision to be a parent โ i.e. you have a bit of time to work out how to navigate through the career challenges that becoming a parent might bring. And itโs pretty easy to find the other parents and carers in the organisation for moral support.
Becoming a carer is different and much more complicated. The emotional journey for you, your siblings and your parents can be trying. And then identifying yourself as a carer or, indeed anyone else, in the same boat isnโt easy. No one stands by the water cooler talking about having to leave early every Tuesday to do a weekly shop for one of their parents. In terms of actually putting some support in place then, helping working carers is a new area. Asking benefits managers to switch suppliers is easy. Asking them to find some budget for something completely new is a challenge.
What are employers doing?
Quite a lot, in fact. IBM, for example, put in place a fantastic back-up care scheme for all their UK staff 10 years ago and insisted that they never did anything for parents without doing something in parallel for carers. There are three parts to the employerโs journey:
1 Identifying who the carers are. Easy for bigger organisations, which can organise a carersโ network, but more difficult for the smaller ones. Holding a one-off carers event, for example, is easy enough for everyone.
2 Cultural empathy. Thatโs making the business and the managers understand that just because you need some flexibility to manage being a working carer doesnโt mean you canโt be a great asset to your employer.
3 Putting practical support in place. There are two levels of support: the first is emergency care. Providing a domiciliary carer on short notice. Itโs stressful going on a business trip if you want to make sure someone does a weekly comfort visit to your mother.
The second is more complex. What happens when one of your parents becomes dependent, either physically or mentally? The truth is, that navigating your way through the social care maze is next to impossible for the initiated. The last time I checked there were 23 different benefits that you might be eligible for. If you work for someone like Shell, then they will make sure that you have access to the best eldercare experts in the country, who are available to hold your hand through the entire process โ having the conversations; sorting out the finances; finding the right care. It will take a long time for the majority of employers to have that kind of support in place but we are getting there slowly.
Ben Black is the Director of My Family Care, the expert in family-friendly ways of working, whose vision is to prove that the employee who combines career and family successfully can be the most engaged and productive member of any team. Services include the award-winning Emergency Childcare, Consultancy & Training and Life Transition Coaching. Twitter: @myfamilycare
