Adequate Family Availability on a Routine Basis

• The number of hours in the America workweek has been climbing steadily since the 1960s. Between 1969-1989 the average American working year increased by 53 hours. The number of men and women who work more than 50 hours a week has likewise been increasing in recent decades.

• Non-standard work in the evenings and nights is common and on the rise. Fifteen percent of Americans work non-standard hours, including 37 percent of service workers, the fastest growing sector of the workforce. Evening and night work are particularly common among low-income workers.

• Low-wage employed caregivers must work long hours to survive. In 1999, a family of four in Racine, WI needed an annual income of $34,841 to cover housing, food, health care, child care, and other necessities. At the federal minimum wage of $5.15/hour, two working adults would have to work 67 hours per week each to earn that total, leaving less time for caregiving.

• Evening, night, weekend, and holiday work are typically not by choice. Most evening and night shift workers do so not because they choose to, but because they have to. Department of Labor surveys have found that over 60 percent of shift workers do so because of "employer mandates," because they "couldn’t find another job," or because of the "nature of the work."

• Adults fare better when they receive support from family members. An extensive body of research demonstrates that adults live longer when they enjoy higher levels of social supports from friends and family. Social supports have also been linked with improved survival rates for patients with coronary disease and myocardial infarction. To be able to provide support to adult family members in need of care, working caregivers must have working conditions that enable them to be available on a routine basis.
  
  
  

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Copyright 2002 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College