Introduction

This book, while not the first to address the reconciliation of paid work and the care of older, sick or disabled people in an international context, offers an updated and extended perspective on an issue whose importance is increasingly recognised around the world. The book is characterised by three features: (1) the distinction it makes between caring in three different relational contexts; (2) its focus on the influence of carers’ organisations as well as of demography and labour force participation; and (3) its coverage of Nordic, liberal-democratic and East Asian societies. It aims to offer readers insights into the personal worlds of working carers in varied cultural and social contexts, to present available statistical evidence about the scope and nature of the care they give, and to review trends and developments in relevant policy fields in six countries.

As mentioned in Chapter One, two earlier books first analysed issues affecting working carers using an international comparative perspective almost 20 years ago. Judith Phillips’ (1995) edited collection Working carers: international perspectives on working and caring for older people broke new ground in the mid-1990s, bringing the relationship between caring and employment into international focus for the first time. Her collection centred on research findings from Britain and North America and also presented early analysis of the circumstances of working carers in Ireland and Germany. It emphasised that since in every country, women were increasingly needed in the labour market but also remained the main carers of older people, caring should be understood as a workplace issue. The book developed a discussion that had begun in Britain and presented examples of workplace initiatives and empirical findings from different countries.

Work and caring for the elderly: international perspectives, edited by the American researchers Viola M. Lechner and Margaret B. Neal (1999), both broadened earlier US studies on working carers and offered an extensive international comparison. Aiming to heighten awareness of the options available to address the ‘work–eldercare dilemma’, their book presented a range of approaches used in supporting people to combine work and care in 11 countries. Its objectives – similar in some ways to those of the present volume – were to explore support for older people and their employed carers in different national contexts, including three of the countries covered here.