Unpaid care and the gender pay gap: Literature review of recent evidence

4. Unpaid Care

This section provides an overview of the review’s findings on the financial impacts and the impact on the determinants of the gender pay gap from unpaid care.

4.1 Financial impact of providing unpaid care

Providing unpaid care is shown to result in a loss of earnings for carers:

• The Joseph Rowntree Foundation show that providing unpaid care results in an average earnings loss of £414 per month, which reaches £628 per month six years after the onset of caring responsibilities. This results in a cumulative loss of gross earnings of approximately £30,000 ^[11].

Caring intensity has an impact on earnings and likelihood of being in employment as well as mental health:

• A UK study shows that carers in the UK have lower earnings compared to those who do not provide care. Caring for ten or more hours weekly is associated with lower odds of being in paid employment; lower earnings; poorer mental and physical health; and higher odds of loneliness and social isolation ^[23].

There is larger reduction in earnings for women who provide care in comparison to men who provide care:

• The effect of care on earnings is pronounced for women with a yearly reduction of over £10,000 in earnings relative to men without caring responsibilities, while male carers were earning £6,800 less ^[23].

The level of education achieved by carers have an impact on earnings loss:

• Regardless of gender, carers who have lower qualifications and care for more than 10 hours a week have an earnings loss yearly of over £12,000 ^[23].

4.2 Impact of unpaid care on working patterns and working hours

Carers, in particular female carers, are likely to reduce working hours, with the reduction in hours increasing as care intensity increases:

• A UK survey found that 22% of carers had reduced their working hours due to care responsibilities. Female carers were more likely to be working part time compared to male carers ^[24].
• A systematic review looking at elder care across several countries show that mid-life female carers are more likely to reduce working hours due to caring for an elderly parent compared to people who do not provide informal care ^[25].
• The intensity of care impacts employment decisions, with mid-life female carers providing 10 to 15 hours of care being more likely to reduce working hours, whereas those working more than 20 hours a week had a higher likelihood of giving up employment ^[25].

4.3 Impact of unpaid care on workplace flexibility and career progression

The prioritisation of flexible work that can fit in around caring often means carers have to turn down promotions or work in jobs they are overqualified for:

• Providing informal care can affect progression and career opportunities which may impact long term earnings. In Northern Ireland 1 in 6 female carers that took part in the survey report having turned down promotions or taking on jobs they were overqualified for ^[26].
• Carers fear they may lose the flexibility that allows them to fit work around their caring responsibilities. Women feel unable to leave their jobs that they are overqualified for, apply to jobs that are full-time, and accept promotions ^[26].
• A thematic review of EU countries found finds there is an unequal distribution of care which leads to a higher concentration of women in jobs and sectors with greater work flexibility but at the expense of higher wages and opportunities for career progression ^[27].

4.4 Impact of unpaid care on participation in labour market and work experience

Providing high intensity care was found to increase the likelihood of the carer being unemployed:

• In Northern Ireland 34% of women who provide informal care terminated their employment due to care, with the figure being 40% in the UK ^[26].
• One study found that almost 6 in 10 of all UK carers who provide intense care (>50 hours a week) are unemployed compared to 38% who provide less than 10 hours ^[28].
• Although male and female carers are found to leave employment due to high intensity care, the likelihood is greater for women with men more likely to reduce working hours instead ^[29].
• A UK study looking at 16 to 29 year old carers found carers have a lower likelihood of obtaining a university degree and entering the labour market compared to those who do not provide care ^[30].