Pflegetätigkeiten von Personen in Haushalten mit Arbeitslosengeld-II-Bezug

Abstract

"The increasing life expectancy coming along with a birth deficit is expected to lead to an increasing demand for elderly care in Germany in the future. In Germany, private home care, often provided by family members, is given primacy over institutional care. At the same time, a labour market participation of broad groups of people is necessary for the sustainable financing of the social security system. However, informal care-giving and labour market participation might not be compatible for all care-givers. Consequently, a conflict of goals - labour market participation and informal home care for persons in need of care - might occur. Also needy individuals receiving the welfare benefit 'Unemployment Benefit II' have to be available for job placement in order to reduce or end their neediness. The research report, therefore, describes care-giving activities of individuals living in households receiving the welfare benefit 'Unemployment Benefit II'. Based on the first four waves of the panel study 'Labour Market and Social Security', the report considers observations aged between 15 and 64 years who lived in a household receiving the welfare benefit at the time the sample was drawn. About 7 % of the respondents provide care to relatives or friends. The amount as well as the type of care provided varies strongly over observations. Carers are more often female, aged 35 years or older, have children and cohabit with a partner than non-carers. They are less likely to be employed and more likely to live in a household with welfare benefit receipt at the time of the interview. They are less often required to search for a job than non-carers. However, only for roughly one quarter of them, care-giving is the reason for not being obliged to search for a job. This indicates that care-giving is not necessarily preventing employment but that care-giving might also arise due to non-employment." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Hohmeyer, K., Kopf, E., Fiebig, M. & Grüttner, M. (2012): Pflegetätigkeiten von Personen in Haushalten mit Arbeitslosengeld-II-Bezug. Eine deskriptive Betrachtung. (IAB-Forschungsbericht 10/2012), Nürnberg, 42 p.