Care work is an essential public good underpinning the economic and social well-being of our society – and it is work that still largely sits in women's purview. Across the world, women shoulder 75% of unpaid care work.
As we enter into the month of May, preparing to celebrate mothers and mother figures, we want to turn attention to an often-overlooked population: working caregivers who look after individuals with disabilities or special needs*.
Across the Asia Pacific region, employees with caregiving responsibilities form the majority of the workforce, including 68% in China. In Hong Kong, we know nearly half of working adults in Hong Kong live with children and / or the elderly, and a significant number of these working adults will have caregiving responsibilities. Among these, it is estimated that 7% of households have dependents with special needs or disabilities, but this percentage does not take into account underreporting due to stigma or lack of education around specific conditions.
Local research indicates that caregivers overall have poorer physical health and are more susceptible to higher levels of stress, anxiety and depression – 83% experienced feelings of anxiety due to the stress of their caregiving responsibilities. For mothers with children with special needs or disabilities, their perceived stress levels are higher than other caregivers on average and exceed those of fathers with special needs / disability dependents likely due to increased emotional burden, fewer coping strategies and perceived increased pressure.
At work, caregivers are often perceived to be less committed and less competent at work. 64% of carers of dependents with special needs believe their status negatively impacts their work performance. Studies show caregivers with disability-related care responsibilities are more likely to reduce their employment or drop out, compared with other groups of working caregivers. Others have trouble finding work at all -- one Hong Kong survey shows 65% of those not working but caregiving for special needs dependents are looking for employment. Given the majority of caregivers are women, this has worrying implications for their overall financial well-being and also should raise concern among employers looking to retain diverse talent in the workforce.
The needs among this group of caregivers are diverse. From a Lingnan and CUHK study focusing on caregivers living in subdivided flats, 90% are women with nearly 30% caring for a dependent with special needs – their limited resources and high levels of emotional labour compounded by the lack of space which exacerbates poor mental health among this population. Among ethnically diverse families, factors such as language barriers and insufficient therapeutic support also intensify the challenge working caregivers face in caring for dependents with special needs.
Whilst women comprise the majority of caregivers for people with disabilities or special needs, men who are primary caregivers face gender-specific challenges. In an HKU study on fathers with special needs children, due to traditional masculine norms around traits such as being seen as strong or stoic, fathers were found to be less likely to share their stress or emotions in relation to caregiving, giving the illusion of greater resilience than mothers. These fathers also expressed higher levels of shame and guilt when their child behaves abnormally in a public space.
At TWF, we advocate extensively for strengthened measures to support working caregivers based on research we conducted in partnership with HKU and HSBC on eldercare and working dementia caregivers. We also engage our communities of Male Allies, Mentoring, and Young Allies to cultivate inclusive leaders that keep in mind the diverse needs of their teams and wider social circle of contacts, including caregivers with special needs or disabilities dependents.
So how can we support this population?
Employers can review their caregiver policies to ensure they sufficiently cover some of the additional accommodations that may be needed for those caring for dependents with special needs or disabilities, and work with managers to create a culture where caregivers can fully communicate their needs without fear of negative impacts.
The government and service providers can apply a gender lens when looking at support services, policies, programmes and schemes for this caregiver population to ensure caregivers of all genders are able to access and receive support.
As a community, we can work to better understand the challenges and complexities these caregivers face, value the vital role they are playing, and fully integrate them and their dependents into public life in Hong Kong.
*Note: Special needs refers to individuals with physical, intellectual, social or emotional capabilities that fall outside of the norm.