Caring for New Zealanders: Your life, your work, your say
September 2007
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the consultation documents, Caring for New Zealanders: Your life, your work, your say. The submission of the National Advisory Council on the Employment of Women (NACEW) is outlined below.
Introduction
NACEW is an independent advisory body to the Minister of Labour on matters related to women and employment, and is charged with the following responsibilities:
- to advise the Minister of Labour on matters referred by him/her concerning the employment of women;
- to express views and make recommendations as appropriate to the Minister of Labour on matters relating to the employment of women;
- to make representations or submissions as appropriate to public bodies such as Commissions of Enquiry, subject to the approval of the Minister;
- to promote the dissemination of information on the employment of women in New Zealand and overseas.
NACEW's submission focuses on Questions 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 14.
Question 2: Which themes require immediate attention and which are important but long-term in nature? (You could also include comments if you think there are any aspects missing, if you disagree with any principles, or if you feel that some principles are especially important.)
Theme 3: Education, Employment and Financial Support
Given NACEW's purview as outlined above, the third theme, “Education, Employment and Financial Support”, is critical. Gender analysis needs to be applied to this theme, and throughout the document. The gendered dynamic of care and its disproportionate impact on women is currently acknowledged, but not explored. The factors behind the gendered provision of work care and its impact on families and wider society and the economy need to be examined to arrive at solutions that meet the needs of families, society and government in a way that does not perpetuate and reinforce gender inequity.
The impact of caring responsibilities on women includes:
- Reduced participation in quality work and other aspects of life
- Reduced lifetime earnings
- Reduced opportunities for career development and progression
- Reduced access to study and/or training
- Consequent impacts of all of the above on the wider society and economy.
Ethnicity
Ethnicity as a factor in caring is also acknowledged in the document, but an ethnicity analysis needs to be applied throughout the document similar to the gender analysis to ensure it responds effectively to the needs of Mäori and Pacific carers and their whänau and aiga
Multiple Care Responsibilities
A theme around people with multiple caring responsibilities could be included and be addressed separately or incorporated into the other themes. The 'sandwich generation', currently in their 30s, are more likely than previous generations to be caring for both young children and older relatives at the same time. Grandmothers who care for their grandchildren as well as caring for elderly relatives, is another group with multiple caring responsibilities.
Question 3: Do you think that carers are effectively recognised and valued at the moment; if not what would help carers feel more recognised and valued?
This is a valid issue that requires further consideration especially given the likely increased need for people to take on caring roles in the future (e.g. due to the ageing population) and the disproportionate impact on women. Overall, mechanisms put in place to recognise and value carers need to better support a more equal sharing of caring responsibilities between women and men to avoid the disproportionate impact currently experienced by women. There are four areas for further investigation which NACEW thinks could help carers to feel more recognised and valued: financial support; best practice in the workplace; investigating the need for carers leave; and workforce development.
Financial support
Consideration needs to be given as to whether people who currently care for another family member should receive financial assistance similar to paid external carers. Issues that need to be considered are:
- Under what circumstances should payment be provided - e.g. short-time versus long-term caring situations; where a person has had to reduce or give up their paid employment to assume their caring responsibilities; or whether or not a paid non-family carer is available to support the family?
- What is the objective of providing payment – e.g. to compensate a carer for lost earnings where they have reduced or given up paid work to provide care; to offset the costs incurred from caring for another person; or as a payment for service provided?
- What level of financial support should be provided – e.g. should lost earnings be fully or partly replaced; should costs be fully or partly met; or should a family member be paid at the same level as a paid care worker?
- How would financial support interact with other entitlements available to carers – e.g. should employees who have access to job-protected leave also be entitled to financial assistance; what other assistance is available to a carer including social assistance provided by ACC and Work and Income; or what other financial assistance might a carer need in addition to assistance the person being cared for already receives (i.e. the needs of carers separate to those of the person needing care).
Best practice in the workplace
Provide information on best practice workplaces which support employees with caring responsibilities. There could also be an EEO Trust Awards category for workplaces which have found innovative ways to help employees with caring responsibilities. This would align with other government initiatives, such as Choices for Living, Caring and Working, and the Work-Life Balance Workplace Project.
Investigate the need for carers' leave
This could be used by employees to address emergency or long term care issues depending on the circumstances around their caring situations. It may include job protection legislation allowing for unpaid leave (e.g. one year) to be available all at once or in part over an employment period. Consideration should be given to allowing the leave to be taken at one time or more flexibly in discrete blocks of time to support the diverse work and care needs of carers.
NACEW notes, however, that the international literature indicates that the uptake of unpaid carers' leave is low in countries where it is provided, so may not be providing the type of support that carers need. Men are also less likely to use unpaid leave as this reduces their income, so unpaid leave is unlikely to support the more equal sharing of caring responsibilities between men and women.
Workforce development
Further consideration needs to be given to how the paid caring workforce e.g. homecare workers, residential carers, and respite carers, can be better supported to improve the quality of service they provide to both those being cared for and their unpaid carers. NACEW recommends that this be achieved by improving the terms and conditions of employment, including the pay and training and development of paid care workers. This approach would help to address the skill shortage in the care sector by making the work more attractive to prospective and current employees, while improving the quality of service and continuity of care and support delivered to those being cared for and their unpaid carers. Improving the quality and continuity of paid care is a critically important contributor to better support for unpaid carers, both in terms of their participation in paid employment, study or training, and in terms of the role being recognised and valued.
Question 5: If carers need help to go into or progress in education or employment when their circumstances allow; what type of support should be provided?
Carers need to have easy access to user-friendly information around the different types of support available to assist them to balance their work or education responsibilities with their caring responsibilities. This includes information about financial support, respite care, childcare, counselling, planning, and employment rights.
Carers need to have easy access to user-friendly information about education and training institutions, courses, and financial support available to those undertaking study or training. This information needs to be widely disseminated through different educational and training institutions, relevant government agencies (e.g. Work and Income, Career Services), employer networks, unions, and workplaces.
Education and training institutions need to have policies in place on how to support students with caring responsibilities so studying or work is manageable.
Question 6: How can the Government support employers to provide flexibility in the workplace for carers?
Given the diversity of work and care situations, a range of government responses will be needed to enable employers to provide flexibility for their employees who have caring responsibilities. The government responses should include:
- Providing information on best practice and tools to support the effective implementation of quality flexible work practices by workplaces. The public sector should lead by example in the provision of quality flexible work for employees with caring responsibilities. Workplace practice and culture as well as policies, should reflect that carers are supported, and could be measured by the Career Progression Survey run regularly by the State Services Commission.
- Promoting the importance of employees being able to request quality flexible work arrangements, including the benefits to both employers and employees.
- Investigating the need for carers' leave (legislation) to enable people to combine paid work with their caring responsibilities (see response to Question 3 above).
- Promoting the importance of the equal sharing of caring responsibilities by men and women, including the benefits to men and women and to employers. This would include ensuring that any leave entitlements for carers (now and in the future) are structured in a way to encourage take-up by both men and women.
Question 7: What do employers need to do to help carers balance paid work and caring?
Employers need to do the following to support employees balance their work caring responsibilities:
- Be aware of existing leave entitlements and flexible work arrangements open to employees and notify employees of their entitlements.
- Have flexible work and work-life balance policies in place for all employees in the workplace.
- Enable a workplace culture to support good relationships between employees and managers so that work and care issues are raised and managed productively.
- Support and encourage male employees with caring responsibilities to make better use of leave entitlements and flexible work arrangements to support a more equal sharing of caring responsibilities between men and women.
- Workplace policies need to be flexible to reflect the diverse range of carers' circumstances as well as the diverse range of business needs.
Question 14: Are there any other groups of carers who may be particularly disadvantaged in their caring role, and how could they be better supported?
The 'sandwich generation' and grandparents who find themselves as an older sandwich generation who have multiple caring responsibilities (see response to Question 2).
Young carers are a particular concern, e.g. teenagers who provide care for younger siblings or elder relatives with a long-term illness or disability. Significant caring responsibilities faced by younger people may negatively impact on their ability to access education and/or employment, which may have long-term implications for their career development, financial security and health and well-being. Access to quality external care services, workplace initiatives or more flexible study arrangements could support them in their role.
Next Steps:
NACEW is undertaking further research, and consultation with its partner organisations1, to inform its input to any further public consultation that may be undertaken on the development of the Carers Strategy in 2008. The focus of this research will be on the financial support that could be made available to carers.
Yours sincerely
Pauline A Winter
Chair
1 NACEW's partner organisations are the: National Council of Women New Zealand, Maori Women's Welfare League, PACIFICA, Rural Women New Zealand, and YWCA.
