Kunz Carolin
Sozialstruktur und Soziologie alternder Gesellschaften, Fakultät Sozialwissenschaften, Technische Universität Dortmund, Emil-Figge-Straße 50, 44227, Dortmund, Germany.
Z Gerontol Geriatr. 2025 Aug 28. doi: 10.1007/s00391-025-02481-x.
Due to demographic ageing, the number of care receivers has been rising, while the number of caregivers is decreasing in many countries. Informal caregiving often begins while still in active employment often leading to role conflicts. The dual burden can negatively affect job performance and lead to changes in occupational self-efficacy.
Despite being of high relevance for individuals, organizations and society, there is a research gap concerning occupational self-efficacy, which may serve as a mechanism for reduced working hours or exit from the labor market after taking on care responsibilities. Thus, this article analyzes the impact of transitioning into informal caregiving on occupational self-efficacy longitudinally.
This study included the 2017, 2019 and 2021 waves of the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA) Working Time Survey, which is a representative panel study of employees in Germany. For each respondent, two waves were used (n ≥ 3052). Difference-in-differences (DiD) models with the transition into informal care with distinctions of different care frequencies as the treatment variables were calculated. To control for selection bias, propensity score matching (PSM) was applied.
Based on the DID models, transitioning into at least occasionally caregiving had a negative effect on occupational self-efficacy, leading to a significant deterioration in composure in the face of occupational difficulties, ideas for solving problems at work and the ability to cope with most occupational demands. The results based on PSM supported these findings.
With respect to, e.g., skilled labor shortages and challenges for welfare systems, sustaining employees' working ability including occupational self-efficacy is of utmost relevance in ageing societies.
由于人口老龄化，许多国家的受照顾者数量不断增加，而照顾者数量却在减少。非正式照顾往往在照顾者仍在职时就开始了，这常常导致角色冲突。双重负担会对工作表现产生负面影响，并导致职业自我效能感的变化。
尽管职业自我效能感对个人、组织和社会都具有高度相关性，但在这方面仍存在研究空白，职业自我效能感可能是承担照顾责任后减少工作时间或退出劳动力市场的一种机制。因此，本文纵向分析了向非正式照顾角色转变对职业自我效能感的影响。
本研究纳入了德国联邦职业安全与健康研究所（BAuA）2017年、2019年和2021年的工作时间调查数据，这是一项针对德国员工的代表性面板研究。对每位受访者使用了两期数据（n≥3052）。计算了以不同照顾频率区分的向非正式照顾角色转变作为处理变量的双重差分（DiD）模型。为控制选择偏差，应用了倾向得分匹配（PSM）方法。
基于双重差分模型，至少偶尔转变为照顾者角色对职业自我效能感有负面影响，导致面对工作困难时的镇定程度、解决工作问题的思路以及应对大多数工作要求的能力显著下降。基于倾向得分匹配的结果支持了这些发现。
例如，鉴于熟练劳动力短缺和福利系统面临的挑战，在老龄化社会中维持员工的工作能力，包括职业自我效能感，至关重要。
