Using the Earnings and Employees Study (2011) to analyse the association between unpaid caring and employment and earnings in NI.
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Ulster
Department Name: Sch of Psychology
Abstract
Currently it is estimated that one-in-five adults in Northern Ireland (NI) have caring responsibilities. A total of 214,000 (12%) people were providing some form of unpaid care on Census Day 2011 in NI, compared with 185,066 in 2001, an increase of 16 per cent. For people with long-term physical/psychological problems, disability, or problems related to old age there are many benefits associated with being cared for at home by a family member of friend; they report higher levels of independence, slower decline, and higher levels of life satisfaction. Furthermore, there are enormous economic benefits with the value of care provided during a full year of the Covid-19 pandemic alone being estimated at £6.93 billion for Northern Ireland. There are also benefits associated with being a carer; research has shown that providing care can increase confidence in the caregivers, develops resilience, strengthens emotional bonds with the care recipient, and provides reassurance that the care recipient is being well-cared for. However, care giving also comes with many costs to the care giver; carers experienced high levels of 'burden', depression, anxiety, distress, stress, poor physical health outcomes and lower quality of life. However, there is a notable lack of research evidence on the impact of caring on employment and income; employment status (e.g. casual, temporary, or permanent), employment type (full-time, part-time), occupational sector, hours worked, income, frequency of overtime, absence, pension contributions etc.
Caring responsibilities may-
* Result in leaving employment to provide care, which is a loss of experience and expertise in the workforce. In 2019, nearly 130,000 people in Northern Ireland are estimated to have left work, or reduced their hours to part-time, in order to provide care.
* Hinder people entering the employment, depriving the economy with the associated personal and financial costs.
* Increase the likelihood of part-time and/or casual working to accommodate caring demands.
* Impact on pension contributions, increasing the likelihood of future financial insecurity.
This project aims to provide the most comprehensive description of unpaid caring in NI and how it is related to a broad range of aspects associated with employment and income. It will achieve this by conducting analysis on a unique data source that combines data from three different sources. The Earnings and Employees Study (EES) 2011 links together variables from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) 2011, with variables from the Census of Population and Housing 2011, and Capital Value data from the Land and Property Services.
In 2021 the Department for the Economy published the "10X Economy - An Economic Vision For A Decade Of Innovation" and this acknowledges that "...inclusive growth is fundamental". This study will help inform and guide the implementation of the 10X Economy in a way that acknowledges the hugely important role that unpaid carers play in the NI economy. This research project will be conducted with Carers NI as partners, to ensure that the findings are optimally used to help inform policy and practice to protect, promote and advocate for this large, and growing, part of the NI population.
Caring responsibilities may-
* Result in leaving employment to provide care, which is a loss of experience and expertise in the workforce. In 2019, nearly 130,000 people in Northern Ireland are estimated to have left work, or reduced their hours to part-time, in order to provide care.
* Hinder people entering the employment, depriving the economy with the associated personal and financial costs.
* Increase the likelihood of part-time and/or casual working to accommodate caring demands.
* Impact on pension contributions, increasing the likelihood of future financial insecurity.
This project aims to provide the most comprehensive description of unpaid caring in NI and how it is related to a broad range of aspects associated with employment and income. It will achieve this by conducting analysis on a unique data source that combines data from three different sources. The Earnings and Employees Study (EES) 2011 links together variables from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) 2011, with variables from the Census of Population and Housing 2011, and Capital Value data from the Land and Property Services.
In 2021 the Department for the Economy published the "10X Economy - An Economic Vision For A Decade Of Innovation" and this acknowledges that "...inclusive growth is fundamental". This study will help inform and guide the implementation of the 10X Economy in a way that acknowledges the hugely important role that unpaid carers play in the NI economy. This research project will be conducted with Carers NI as partners, to ensure that the findings are optimally used to help inform policy and practice to protect, promote and advocate for this large, and growing, part of the NI population.
Publications
Description | What we found: Of the total sample (N = 5,770) most (84.8%) reported providing no unpaid care; 10.7% provided 1 to 19 hours, 2.1% provided 20 to 49 hours, and 2.3% provided 50 or more hours unpaid care a week. Demographics Those who provided any level of unpaid care were significantly more likely (compared to non-carers) to be female, aged over 41 years, be married or in a registered same-sex partnership, born in Northern Ireland, and less likely to be a full-time student. Care providers reported higher levels of disability themselves; they were more likely to report their day-to-day activities to be limited 'a little' or 'a lot' compared to non-carers. They were also more likely to report experiencing one or more long-term health conditions. A higher proportion of carers reported their health as 'Fair', 'Bad' or 'Very bad'. Carers were more likely to have 'Level 4 qualifications and above' (HNC, HND, degree or higher) and also engage in voluntary work. They were more likely to live in adapted accommodation, be owner occupiers, and own 1 or more cars. Based on the Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Indices cares were less likely to be deprived in education and housing dimensions. Employment Carers and non-cares did not differ in rates of full/part-time employment, whether their contracts were permanent or temporary/casual, and whether their earnings were affected by absence. Careers were significantly more likely to have more than one job, have a collective (national, sub-national or industry) agreement, and have a four week/calendar month pay period. Overall, those who were providing high levels of care were working fewer hours, getting paid less, and receiving less employer contributions. There was an overall gender effect with females doing less well on almost all indictors of income and earnings. A supplementary analysis found that those who provided high levels of care, compared to all others combined caring/non-caring groups, were significantly lower in basic paid hours, basic pay ad total pay, and females were significantly lower on these compared to males. |
Exploitation Route | This study has provided important insights into the social and demographic background of unpaid carers in Northern Ireland based on the 2011 census. Future research on the 2021 census is required to update these findings. Furthermore, given the longitudinal nature of the ASHE data the reciprocal association between changes in caring status and earnings and employment variables could be examined. |
Sectors | Healthcare |
URL | https://www.adruk.org/news-publications/events/northern-ireland-statistics-and-research-agency-conference-future-proofing-northern-ireland-business-data-for-research/ |
Description | Our collaboration with Carers NI/UK led to further collaborative work and they are co-applicants on OPP262: ESRC UK census 2021/2 data opportunity: invite-only full stage The project resulted in the initial use of the SafePod in Ulster University for secure access to the ONS. |
First Year Of Impact | 2023 |
Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy |
Title | Recoding and aggregation syntax for the analysis of Earnings and Employees Study (EES) 2011 |
Description | We developed and deposited a set of SPSS syntax files to organise and restructure the original dataset. |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2023 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | These files simplified the data and made it more amenable for analysis. It collapsed and labelled the many multi-category variables. |
URL | https://www.adruk.org/fileadmin/uploads/adruk/Documents/Data_Explained/Data-Explained-Unpaid-Caring.... |
Description | Carers NI and UK |
Organisation | Carers UK |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | Raised awareness about the availability and use of administrative data to help in policy development and research. |
Collaborator Contribution | Carers UK/NI helped with the development and formulation of the research questions. |
Impact | This collaboration has resulted in Carers UK/NI being project partners in a successful ESRC project - APP20072: Realising the Potential of Census '21 data in Northern Ireland: Engage, Inform and Train |
Start Year | 2023 |