Home care of the elderly and the employment behavior of married women

This article draws on life history data from the Socio-Economic Panel to ex amine whether the presence of an older household member in need of care has an effect on the employment behavior of married women aged 40-65 in German y. Empirical results support the hypothesis that care-giving in married wom en's households increases their propensity to give up paid employment. Thes e findings suggest that care for the elderly induces a different strategy t han child care, where part-time employment has evolved as a solution to the conflict between family responsibilities and paid employment. In addition, this study demonstrates that the friction between care-giving and employme nt is more acute for women with higher job income. With increasing househol d incomes, however, the likelihood of leaving employment increases as well. The findings suggest that population aging and a growing demand for care o f the elderly put an increased burden on women especially.