The impact of caregiving while working
Millions of Canadians are juggling working part- or full-time with caregiving.
This could mean taking care of children, aging parents who need assistance, or – for many people - both.
This juggling act can create many challenges, such as having to reduce work hours and income, not being able to prioritize caring for yourself, financial hardship, and experiencing high levels of anxiety and burnout.
The challenges of balancing caring for others while working affect women especially. StatsCan reports that in 2022, 52% of all Canadian womenOpens a new website in a new window provided some form of paid or unpaid care to children and parents, many of whom did so while still working.
This caregiving can often result in time away from the workplace altogether, such as taking maternity leave when starting a family, or taking a career break to help parents or other family members if balancing their care with work is no longer an option.
This time away from earning translates into less saved for retirement and therefore poorer retirement outcomes for women, known as the Gender Pension Gap (GPG).
“For the most part, I see people working within what their parents can afford,” Nahanni Ackroyd, CFP, RIS, Ackroyd Financial Services said. “What is much more common is that there's been a financial risk to them in terms of reduced work or less ability to make money for themselves, which then can affect their retirement because they're working less, they get less CPP, less pension, and less income that you could build savings with as well.”
If you’re balancing working with caring for your children and/or parents, there are some steps you can take to build a support network that can help you as challenges arise.
Talk to your work
It’s important to let your employer know about your caregiving responsibilities.
Being honest about the competing demands on your time may be able to:
Help your employer understand the reality of how caregiving is or may impact your work.
Develop a plan for how you can meet expectations at work while still caring for those who need you.
Establish boundaries and expectations.
Reduce anxiety and worries over balancing caregiving with work.
Allow you to access any resources available through work that can help you as you juggle work and caregiving, such as Employee Wellness Programs (EAP).
Help you make the most of paid time off such as personal days, vacation days and other leaves of absence.
Connect you with support systems like Employee Resource Groups (ERG) that may be filled with coworkers facing similar challenges.
When it comes to where and when you work, your employer may be open to discussing options that could help you manage caregiving with your job.
For example, you may be able to discuss the possibility of flexible and/or remote working if that’s an available option. You may also be able to ask for flexible hours and see whether adjusting your work schedule could help you balance life at work and at home.
It may become the case that balancing work with caregiving is becoming increasingly difficult, and that you may need to take time away from work to properly commit to taking care of loved ones.
Many caregivers need to adapt working hours and patterns as a result of caregiving; according to Statistics CanadaOpens a new website in a new window, 16% of unpaid caregivers have had to adjust their work schedule in order to be more flexible with caregiving responsibilities.
The report also showed that 7% had to reduce their regular weekly work hours, while 5% were unable to work a paid job at all.
“If someone’s going to be stepping into caregiving, I’ll talk to them about conversations to consider,” Ackroyd adds. “If you’re not going to have an income for this year, or 2 years, is your mom or dad willing to help? Or could they compensate you through a little bit bigger percentage in the will or something else?
“One option to financially recognize the time and support a caregiver has provided could be to adjust the percentages for the beneficiaries, in a life insurance policy. Let’s say your daughter came and took care of you for two years so you might consider giving her 50% and the other two kids get 25% - it costs you nothing from what you already have but allows you to help compensate for that care.”
If you find yourself in a position where you need to take prolonged time off work, you may be able to receive financial support from the Government of CanadaOpens a new website in a new window. Make sure to research your options as to what help might be available to you.
Create a support network at home
In addition to seeking support from your workplace, you can also look at how friends, family and if necessary paid-for assistance can provide you with the help you need.
Work as a team at home
Working and caring for others can leave little time for anything else, so if there are others living in your house, try to work together to manage chores and tasks like cleaning, laundry, cooking meals and putting out garbage.
Search for ways to save time
If you’re finding that caregiving responsibilities and work are leaving you time-poor, look for ways that apps and technology can help streamline your daily life. For example, you could:
Order groceries online during your commute to save going to the store
Book health appointments online
Set up automatic prescription refills or manage them via your pharmacy app
Use apps and shared calendars to plan your schedules in advance
Make time for yourself
Speaking of time, it’s important to prioritize your physical and mental wellbeing. Caring for yourself as much as others is important to help avoid burnout.
You may find that your busy schedule leads to things like eating poorly or skipping meals, missing or not booking health appointments for yourself, not getting enough sleep and other behaviours that can negatively impact your mental and physical wellbeing.
To combat this, try scheduling periods during which you’re unavailable to provide care or work, and share this schedule with those close to you so they know this is time for yourself.
You can lean on friends and family to help with caring responsibilities if possible, to ensure you’re getting enough time to recharge.
Pay for help if possible
If your budget will extend to paying for some support, it may help your work-caregiving balance overall. For example, you could enlist professional help to care for your parents or look for paid-for childcare, or explore getting a cleaning service for the house or a meal delivery service.
How to cope financially
If your caregiving responsibilities have impacted your income in any way, then chances are it’s impacting your ability to budget and save too.
For example, you may find you’re spending more on travelling to medical appointments or to and from family homes to provide care, but earning less as you’ve had to reduce your work hours to do so.
It’s important to carry out a financial health check to see how you’re managing your money now, and see if you need to make any changes to ensure you stay on track with your own financial goals:
Look over your budget and see how your busy life is impacting your finances. If you’re spending more and earning less because of your busy schedule, you may need to for ways to cut-back or save, or see about sharing more costs with your partner if possible.
Make sure you’re claiming benefits like the Canada Caregiver CreditOpens a new website in a new window if you’re eligible for it.
Make sure you’re still saving. When it comes to tightening budgets, one thing you may think of is contributing less to savings accounts to free up more money to cover daily essentials. To help cover unexpected costs in the future as well as to save enough for retirement, it’s important to keep contributing even small amounts. Even saving a little over a long period can help you take advantage of compound growth, which can help your money to grow over time.
If you’re worried about your financial future, you can review the financial impact of caregiving with an advisor who can help.