In Israel, about 1.2 million people are family caregivers for those with disabilities for six months or more, with no financial compensation; many of them care for more than one person. This investment in caregiving influences their ability to integrate into the labor market and their needs for support. Taub Center researchers Rachel Arazi, Prof. Benjamin Bental, and Prof. Nadav Davidovitch examined the characteristics of this population, the type of care that they give, and the amount of time that they devote to caregiving, and estimate the potential harm to their ability to work outside the home.
The research is based on data from the Central Bureau of Statistics Social Survey. The researchers divided the disabilities that caregivers encountered into three main categories: those resulting from: physical disabilities — problems of mobility resulting from age or physical issues; cognitive disabilities — resulting from age or emotional issues; mental disabilities — autism, cognitive disorders, or loneliness.
Haredim give care to family members in higher numbers
A look at the data by population group found that 22% of non-Haredi Jews care for a family member, while 34% of Haredim, and 17% of Arabs do so as well. The majority of care in Arab society (76%) is for family members with physical disabilities. Among Haredim, the most frequent care is for mental disabilities (27%) while it is less frequent among non-Haredi Jews (15%) and Arabs (12%). The differences among groups is likely due to more traditional family structures within Haredi and Arab society, where it is more common for a disabled individual to remain at home for care by a family member as well as differences in the incidence of dementia within the different population groups. The higher incidence of mental disabilities seen in the Haredi community might also be attributable to the young age distribution of the community and the fact that mental disabilities are unrelated to old age.
In an examination of the length of time devoted to caregiving, the researchers found that about 28% of caregivers invest up to 2 hours a week in caregiving, about 18% give 3–5 hours, another 18% give between 6‒9 hours, and 28% said that they spend 10 hours or more per week in caregiving activities. That is, close to half of family caregivers, about 10% of the working-age population, invest close to one work day a week in caregiving for at least 6 months or more.
Caregiving rates and those who carry the majority of the weight
Individuals aged 40–59, sometimes referred to as the “sandwich generation” since they care for their own young children as well as their aging parents, carry the majority of the weight of family caregiving. The research shows that the likelihood of someone in the 40–49 and 50‒59 age group being a caregiver is substantially higher than the likelihood at age 20–29. This is similar to the research findings in many other countries.
It was also found that the chances of Haredim caring for a family member of any generation is higher at about one-third of the population — a substantially higher rate relative to non-Haredi Jews and Arabs. Among non-Haredi Jews and among Arabs, the likelihood of caring for parents or children is similar, while the chances of someone from Arab society caring for a family member of the same generation — for example, a partner or sibling — is almost half that of non-Haredi Jews. Moreover, about 82% of Arabs are not involved in caregiving, versus 79% among non-Haredi Jews.
It was also found in the study that married individuals are more likely to care for a family member of their generation or from the next generation than unmarried individuals. No differences were found between men and women in the likelihood of caring for a family member.
The distribution of caregiving by age, education level, population groups, family status, and gender
The study shows that the number of weekly hours devoted to caregiving rises with age and that those with a high school education invest more time in caregiving than those with higher education levels or those with less than a high school education. Arabs and Haredi invest more hours in caregiving than non-Haredi Jews — 39% of Arabs and 40% of Haredim spend 10 hours or more per week in caregiving versus 28% of non-Haredi Jews. Although married individuals tend to spend more time in caregiving than unmarried individuals, 39% of unmarried caregivers devote 10 hours or more per week to caregiving activities, versus 28% of those who are married. From a gender perspective, it seems that women invest more hours than men — 34% of women caregivers devote 10 hours or more, versus 26% of men.
Employment status has an influence on the number of hours that a family member can devote to caregiving: 39% of caregivers who are unemployed devote 10 hours or more, versus 27% of employed caregivers. Nevertheless, the vast majority of caregivers are employed — about 88% — which indicates that caregiving does not affect work. Of those who claimed that their caregiving activities had impacted their work, 5% claimed that they had lost work days, 4% that they had lost work hours, 2% reduced the amount of time that they work, and only 1% left their place of employment due to their need to care for a family member. The likelihood of someone aged 50–59 reporting that they feel some measure of stress due to their caregiving burden is greater than among the other age groups, and women feel the pressure more than men — 54% versus 47% respectively.
Impact on the economy
It appears that caring for a family member comes primarily at the expense of leisure time and so there is little impact on the economy. Nevertheless, 10% of Israelis of working age invest the equivalent of one work day a week, or 20% of their weekly work hours, in caregiving. A rough estimate is that 2% of work days are lost to the economy due to the long-term care of a family member. Since work contributes 60% to GDP, this is a loss that is equivalent to about 1.2% of GDP.
The increased burden also impacts other areas not examined in this study, like career, relationships with partners, and friendships. This requires further research to estimate the full range of social and economic impacts of caregiving, including comparing different population groups.