Double-Duty Carers’ Health and Wellbeing during COVID-19: Exploring the Role of Mobility of the Care Economy in Southern Ontario, Canada

Léa Ravensbergen (), Sakshi Mehta, Bharati Sethi, Catherine Ward-Griffin and Allison Williams
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Léa Ravensbergen: School of Earth, Environment & Society, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S 4L8, Canada
Sakshi Mehta: Faculty of Health Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S 4L8, Canada
Bharati Sethi: The Department of Political Studies, Trent University Peterborough, Peterborough, ON K9L 0G2, Canada
Catherine Ward-Griffin: Faculty of Health Sciences, Western University, London, ON N6A 3K7, Canada
Allison Williams: School of Earth, Environment & Society, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON L8S 4L8, Canada

IJERPH, 2024, vol. 21, issue 6, 1-16

Abstract: Double-Duty Carers (DDCs) refer to people who work in the healthcare industry while also providing unpaid care to relatives, friends, or neighbours. The expectations placed on DDCs is expected to grow, and these employees already experience a high caring burden. As such it is important to understand how best to support their health and wellbeing. This paper explores DDCs’ wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing an understudied factor: their mobility constraints. Following the Mobility of the Care Economy framework and a qualitative research design, it does so through a thematic analysis of 16 semi-structured interviews with female DDCs in Southern Ontario, Canada. Once data saturation was reached, three mobility pathways during the pandemic were identified, all of which negatively affected DDCs wellbeing. First, some COVID-19 policies (e.g., testing requirements) resulted in increased mobility demands and increased spatiotemporal constraints. Second, the closure of institutions that care for dependents (schools, daycares, day centres) resulted in forced reduced mobility, which increased financial stress. Finally, indirect mobility effects were identified: the reduced mobility of other informal carers increased the workload and emotional strain on DDCs. The paper concludes with a discussion of mobility-related policies that could improve DDC wellbeing.

Keywords: mobility of the care economy; double-duty carers; carer–employee; COVID-19; health; wellbeing; interviews (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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