The document discusses partner-caregiving (caring for an ill or disabled spouse/partner) in Nordic countries, Japan, and Taiwan. In the Nordic countries (Finland and Sweden), partner-caregivers face a lack of attention, flexibility at work, and variations in local support services. They highly value work but expect formal assistance. Finnish partner-caregivers reported fewer financial challenges than Swedes. In Japan and Taiwan, partner-caregiving responsibilities primarily fall on families with limited public support. Both countries are developing long-term care systems to address aging populations but still rely mainly on family caregiving.

1. Dept of Social Sciences & Philosophy
Combining employment and caring
for a partner in the Nordic
countries and East Asia
Teppo Kröger
International Conference
‘Carers and Work-Care Reconciliation’
University of Leeds
13 August 2013

2. Dept of Social Sciences & Philosophy
This presentation is based on two
chapters published in Combining Paid
Work and Family Care
– Anu Leinonen and Ann-Britt Sand:
Reconciling partner-care and paid work in
Finland and Sweden: challenges and coping
strategies
– Mei-Chun Liu and Machiko Osawa:
Partner-care in the East Asian system:
combining paid work and caring in Japan
and Taiwan

3. Dept of Social Sciences & Philosophy
Invisibility of working partner-carers
In Finland and Sweden, the circumstances of
working partner-carers have received little
attention as care between partners has been
studied almost exclusively among older retired
people
In Japan and Taiwan, partner-care has received
less attention than other forms of caring, though
partner-care is one of the main types of caring
and working-age partners with dual work and
caring roles often encounter real hardship

4. Dept of Social Sciences & Philosophy
The Nordic context
Finland’s (1929) and Sweden’s (1987) Marriage
Acts impose no statutory obligation to provide
personal care for one’s spouse, although
spouses are expected to help and support each
other financially.
In both countries, disabled people’s right to
receive formal help is well established in law
and policy (more firmly than that of frail older
people). In recent years, however, cuts and
reorganisations in public health and social care
provisions have transferred some care
responsibilities to family members.

5. Dept of Social Sciences & Philosophy
The Nordic context
In both countries, disabled people are eligible
for financial benefits, transportation and
interpretation services, aids, home repairs, and
rehabilitation services
These measures are designed to improve and
maintain the well-being of disabled people but
are also relevant for their partners and have
implications for the well-being of the whole
family

6. Dept of Social Sciences & Philosophy
Nordic ’care leaves’
Like other working carers in Finland, working
partner-carers are eligible, in agreement with their
employer, for (unpaid) temporary ‘absence for an
unforeseen family situation’ or ‘absence for care
for a family member or other close person’.
They can also apply for a ‘job alternation leave’
(max 1 year, benefit with low compensation rate)
In Sweden, workers whose partner is terminally ill
may take max 60 days leave and claim End of
Life Care Allowance, an income-related payment
(high compensation rate) available to relatives.

7. Dept of Social Sciences & Philosophy
Carer’s Allowance in Finland
In Finland, every second receiver of the Carer’s
Allowance cares for a partner. This allowance
also brings a right to three ‘free days’ per month
when local authorities are responsible to
organise respite care.
Carer’s Allowance recipients are split roughly
equally between those who are retired and aged
65 or over and those of working age, so while
many supported partner-carers are above
working age, many are not.
Only a small part of all carers receive Carer’s
Allowance in Finland.

8. Dept of Social Sciences & Philosophy
Partner-carers in Sweden
In Sweden in the 1990s, about a quarter of
family carers employed by municipalities cared
for a partner, and in the Swedish system, carers
employed by municipalities can, and sometimes
do, also hold another paid job.
Carers regretted their own loss of free time; “too
tired to have fun” (Swe)
“I am a widow with a living husband.” (Swe)

9. Dept of Social Sciences & Philosophy
Nordic preference to work
The high value given to work in the Nordic
countries: “I would feel like a prisoner. Now,
when I leave to go to work, I feel I get a break
from it all. I get to visit another world”.
Retired Finnish and Swedish partners usually
see themselves as the primary and obvious
source of help for a partner needing care, but
when the partner is employed, this raises
additional issues.
– The role of children (“to be kept at a
minimum”)
– The availability and quality of services

10. Dept of Social Sciences & Philosophy
Case example from Sweden

11. Dept of Social Sciences & Philosophy
Case example from Finland

12. Dept of Social Sciences & Philosophy
Summary (Nordic)
Partner-carers faced broadly similar conditions in
Finland and Sweden: lack of attention, limited
personal time and large variations in the flexibility
available in the workplace or in local services.
Nordic partner-carers value paid work highly and
expect to receive formal support so that they can
keep working.
The Finnish interviewees said little about financial
problems, which were among the greatest
challenges for the Swedes. The Swedish
interviewees had reduced their working hours,
while the Finns had rearranged their daily
working hours and place of work.

13. Dept of Social Sciences & Philosophy
Who does caring in Japan?

14. Dept of Social Sciences & Philosophy
Partner-care in Japan
Traditional marriage matchmaking has given
way to marriage based on love in Japan, and
this has led to a rising trend of partner-care.
While a growing number of husbands take care
of their wives, some problems have emerged:
as men were not used to household work or to
communicating regularly with neighbours, there
is a tendency for them to become isolated and
left without assistance from neighbours or
friends, when a partner requires constant care
at home.

15. Dept of Social Sciences & Philosophy
Partner-care in Japan
The launch of the LTCI in 2000 brought home care
services available to many Japanese older people but
partner-carers benefit only if their partner is over 65
Japan has introduced paid care leave for up to 93 days
(40% compensation rate) and part-time employment
with flexible work schedules is quite widespread
Partner-carers of disabled adults can get publicly (LA)
funded assistance with household tasks such as
cooking, bathing and washing (10% user fee).
There are an increasing number of disability services
and welfare benefits developing in Japan but still at the
moment partners bear a considerable economic
responsibility, making their participation in paid work
especially important

16. Dept of Social Sciences & Philosophy
Case example from Japan

17. Dept of Social Sciences & Philosophy
Case example from Taiwan

18. Dept of Social Sciences & Philosophy
Partner-care in Taiwan
In Taiwan, the moral and legal bond between
the carer and the care recipient is defined by
social, legal and cultural norms.
Intimacy enhances the likelihood that a person
will care for his or her disabled partner,
especially in situations of temporary disability.
Yet, in the moral and legal context in Taiwan,
even if there is discord in the marital
relationship, partners are obliged to take on a
caring role. In such cases, partner-care is
involuntary and can involve anger and conflict.

19. Dept of Social Sciences & Philosophy
Partner-care in Taiwan
In 2009, an official survey found that 63% of
those caring for a disabled partner aged under
65 were female.
Taiwanese carers are entitled to a total of
seven days’ unpaid care leave per year
There are service provisions to both disabled
and older people in Taiwan but they are still
limited to small groups (LTCI not yet laucnhed)
The main way in Taiwan to cover gaps in the
availability of care is to employ migrant live-in
care workers (requires government approval),
used also sometimes in partner-care situations

20. Dept of Social Sciences & Philosophy
Summary (Japan & Taiwan)
Both Japan and Taiwan are predominantly
family-based care regimes in which care is
delivered at home, primarily by relatives, with
limited public support. Both countries are
latecomers in building a care system to cope
with the increasing care needs of their people.
The two countries nevertheless have different
socio-economic contexts and population
profiles, leading to differences in the
development of their care systems.

21. Dept of Social Sciences & Philosophy
Summary (Japan & Taiwan)
Japan entered the so-called ‘aged society’ much
earlier than the rest of the world and
experienced a sharply declining birth rate in the
late 20th century, creating a care crisis to which
it responded by introducing its LTC Insurance
Act 2000, the first Asian country to recognise
carers’ needs in this way.
In contrast, the development of Taiwan’s social
services has been very slow. The LTCI system
is however under preparation in Taiwan.

22. Dept of Social Sciences & Philosophy
Summary (Japan & Taiwan)
The late start and consequent inadequacies of
Taiwan’s public care provision and care leave
policies make it very difficult for working people to
cope with care needs in the family. Workers in the
informal sector may have more flexible schedules to
cope with their caring roles, but such jobs are poorly
paid and lack security.
Although Japan has introduced paid care leave and
part-time employment with flexible work schedules,
Japanese workers also still face difficulties in
balancing work and care. This arises from low take-up
of care leave (caused by the low compensation
rate of 40%) and a relatively high labour force
participation rate.

23. Dept of Social Sciences & Philosophy
Conclusion
Issues that need to be taken into account in
developing support for partner-carers
– Home care services need to be sensitive to
family practices and routines of working-age
people
– Tailored respite care services for middle-aged
and younger adults are needed
– Good services and supportive work–life
practices are necessary to ensure that carers
can access paid work but also that they have
some personal free time of their own

24. Dept of Social Sciences & Philosophy
Conclusion
”Working carers’ life situations are all in some way
unique and characterised by considerable
diversity, yet their need for support and
recognition is universal. All working carers
deserve respect, an opportunity to organise
suitable working hours, compensation for reduced
working hours and high-quality services. Working
partner-carers are no different from others in this
sense and should have the chance to live their
lives without their caregiving being stigmatised.”
(Leinonen & Sand 2013)