Information from the MetLife Mature Market Institute

MetLife

57 Greens Farms Road

Westport, CT 06880

For Immediate Release:        Contact: Debra J. Caruso                    Christina Tso

Wednesday, June 11, 2003            DJC Communications                    MetLife

                              (212) 907-0051                  (212) 578-4946

debra@djccommunications.com ctso@metlife.com

AS GROWING NUMBERS OF MEN CARE FOR ELDERLY PARENTS, THEY FACE INCREASING CHALLENGES AT WORK, REPORTS METLIFE STUDY MEN AS LIKELY AS WOMEN TO BE PRIMARY CAREGIVERS

As more men in the workforce are caring for their elderly parents they are facing increasing challenges at work, according to a new study conducted for the MetLife Mature Market Institute by the National Alliance for Caregiving and Towson University’s Center for Productive Aging.  Men are just as likely as women to report they are the primary caregiver and need to modify their work schedules.  The study also found that more men than women are long distance caregivers, meaning they live an hour or more away from the care recipient.

“The MetLife Study of Sons at Work: Balancing Employment and Eldercare,” found that male caregivers don’t feel comfortable discussing their responsibilities and, therefore, don’t seek and receive support from their colleagues and supervisors.  Men are more likely to report that neither their superiors nor their co-workers know they are caregivers, although the men surveyed say there is no stigma attached to caregiving.

Men reported fewer health effects attributed to caregiving than women, perhaps because women are performing more personal tasks like bathing, dressing, feeding and toileting.  Men also manage finances more than women and report performing tasks like shopping, housework, meal preparation and medication management.

“The data suggests that employers need to challenge assumptions about eldercare as a ‘women’s issue’ to assist the growing number of both men and women providing care,” said gerontologist Sandra Timmermann, Ed.D., Director of the MetLife Mature Market Institute.

“Employers should inform their employees about eldercare issues on a continuing basis.  They should provide training and education to managers to help them better understand caregiving issues and to inform them about company benefits related to eldercare, particularly those that would help coordinate care like geriatric care managers.  A major consideration for employers is to accommodate those with eldercare responsibilities with items like flexible hours, telecommuting, help finding services and assistance with legal, financial and insurance matters.”

“It’s clear from this information that helping care for one’s parents is no longer limited to daughters as it once was,” said Gail Hunt, Executive Director of the National Alliance for Caregiving.  “The gender shift suggests that there are more caregivers overall and more caregivers in the workplace, meaning workplace accommodations should be made.”

The majority of both men and women (54% of the men and 56% of the women) report the need to modify their work schedules and miss some work as a result of caregiving.  While men and women are equally likely to turn down travel and promotions because they may interfere with caregiving, men generally do not refuse overtime and are less likely to quit their jobs than women.  Both men and women who care for aging parents say they would like to find a job better suited to their caregiving responsibilities.

“The fact that men are more reticent than women to talk about caregiving at work,” Donna Wagner, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Productive Aging at Towson University, “means that employers will need to take steps to ensure that their workplace programs are appropriate for men as well as women and are meeting the needs of all of their caregiving employees.”

A quarter of the men and 28% of the women surveyed reported that they share a residence with the person for whom they provide help.  Almost equal numbers of men and women provide financial support for their parents, an average of $273 per month or $3,300 per year.

The MetLife study was conducted via the Internet.  Invitations to complete a confidential survey with questions regarding caregiving were sent to 25,000 employees at three Fortune 500 corporations.  1,386 respondents visited the Towson University Web site to complete the survey, a 5% response rate.

Specific findings include the following:

·     Men are, indeed, providing care and are as likely as women to be the primary caregiver.

·     Women perform more personal tasks than men, including bathing, dressing, feeding and       toileting.

·     Men and women provide a similar amount of assistance with everyday activities like:       transportation,   grocery shopping, housework, meal preparation, arranging and managing needed services, managing medications.

·     Men are more likely to perform money management tasks.

·     Men were less likely than women to discuss caregiving with co-workers and supervisors.

·     Men and women were just as likely to report considering a job change

because of caregiving.

·     Nearly two-thirds of men and women reported that caregiving had at least some negative       effect on their career.

·     Men were just as likely as women to report that caregiving resulted in negative consequences      for family relationships (men: 45%, women: 47%), friendships (men: 33%, women: 34%), and personal activities (men: 63%, women: 65%).

·     Only about one third of respondents knew about their company’s eldercare programs.

The MetLife Mature Market Institute is the company’s focal point and resource center for issues concerning aging, retirement, long-term care and the mature market. The Institute, staffed by gerontologists, provides training and education, consultation and information to support MetLife, its corporate customers and business partners.

The National Alliance for Caregiving is a non-profit coalition of 38 national organizations that focus on issues of family caregiving.

The Center for Productive Aging at Towson University near Baltimore, Maryland, includes undergraduate and graduate programs in gerontology and conducts applied research on aging in the community and the workplace.

To read “The MetLife Study of Sons at Work: Balancing Employment and Eldercare,” please visit the MetLife Mature Market Institute Web site, www.maturemarketinstitute.com.