Publication type
Journal Article
Series Number
Authors
Publication date
January 29, 2026
Summary:
Taking up unpaid caregiving, that is, providing care for sick or disabled people in one’s social network, can affect paid employment. Previous research has mostly found negative effects, focusing more on ‘objective’ outcomes, such as labour supply or wages. We argue that to have a fuller picture of the employment consequences of unpaid caregiving, including potential positive effects, as suggested by enrichment theory, it is important to examine ‘subjective’ outcomes, such as job satisfaction. Applying fixed-effects panel models using the UK Household Panel ‘Understanding Society’ (2009–20; N = 171,450 observations of 32,156 respondents), we focus on changes in job satisfaction and their relationship with the changes into (more) caregiving, differentiated by intensity and duration. Providing non-intensive care was related to lower job satisfaction compared to both not having provided care or having provided intensive care. Sequential caregiving, implying longer care duration, reduced job satisfaction compared to not having provided care or having newly started care.
Published in
International Journal of Care and Caring
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1332/23978821Y2025D000000164
ISSN
23978821
Subjects
Notes
Online Early
© Authors 2026
Open Access
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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