Gendered impact of caregiving on older nonmedical healthcare workers

Background: The paper deals with older workers and the issue of combining informal care for family members with paid employment, which is increasingly important in the light of socio-demographic changes in society - namely demographic ageing and the lengthening of working life. The topic is highly relevant to the group of non-medical healthcare professions studied, as they combine care in the professional and domestic spheres. Purpose of the research: The aim of the research is to point to gender inequalities in how the combination of formal and informal care impacts the work and personal spheres of (pre-) retirement-age nonmedical healthcare workers.

Methods: The article is based on the analysis of 36 qualitative interviews with nonmedical healthcare workers in Czechia. We used thematic analysis and approached the issue of (un)doing gender from a social constructivist perspective.

Results: The results suggest that women and men in nonmedical healthcare professions face differences in relation to the double care burden in older age. Women are more likely to be affected by a combination of dual care, which has implications for their workload, financial remuneration, etc., whereas men are under greater pressure to perform at work, which becomes increasingly difficult at older ages.

Conclusion: Gendered character of double care has implications for gender inequalities in mental and physical health and for the gender pension gap.