Unpaid caregiving and job satisfaction: the role of care intensity and duration

Taking up unpaid caregiving, that is, providing care for sick or disabled people in one’s social network, can affect paid employment. Previous research has mostly found negative effects, focusing more on ‘objective’ outcomes, such as labour supply or wages. We argue that to have a fuller picture of the employment consequences of unpaid caregiving, including potential positive effects, as suggested by enrichment theory, it is important to examine ‘subjective’ outcomes, such as job satisfaction. Applying fixed-effects panel models using the UK Household Panel ‘Understanding Society’ (2009–20; N = 171,450 observations of 32,156 respondents), we focus on changes in job satisfaction and their relationship with the changes into (more) caregiving, differentiated by intensity and duration. Providing non-intensive care was related to lower job satisfaction compared to both not having provided care or having provided intensive care. Sequential caregiving, implying longer care duration, reduced job satisfaction compared to not having provided care or having newly started care.