Meet Lucy.
Lucy, like many of us, has a terrible work-life balance. When she’s not working, she wants to spend time with her mum, who hasn’t been well recently. Lucy is conscious of what the future looks like.
“What if she gets worse?”
“What if I can’t be there when she needs me most?”
“What happens if I have to leave my job?”
It’s a worry. The constant thoughts floating around in her head are all-encompassing. She wants to look after her parents and make sure they are cared for, but feels restricted by a lack of time and opportunity. But Lucy loves her job. She’s lucky in that respect. The thought of having to give up her career, when she’s only just getting started, gives her a conflicted conscience. It’s hard to think about the future when there is so much going on in the present.
The reality of caregiving stress
Newsflash: Lucy isn’t real.
But the sentiments, scenarios and anxieties above are most definitely a reality. Balancing work and care for a loved one doesn’t just have an effect on productivity and absenteeism, but a huge effect on mental wellbeing as well. People in a situation like Lucy sometimes have to decide between career and care, but there should be more support provided by her workplace. Whether it’s flexible working, a community outlet or a workplace perk to assist with care, each can hugely aid mental health.
As a result of providing care:
The above are statistics from carers themselves. Now, just imagine juggling unpaid care with another full-time career and you get an essence of how bad the reality of care and work really is.
Because of the evident mental strain and burden on employees, there can be sudden absences from work or some are forced to leave the workplace entirely. The longer organisations take to alleviate this pain point, the longer people like Lucy are unable to care and work at the same time.
What Lucy did about it
Lucy did eventually leave work, but thankfully not for good. Instead, Lucy changed for a job with benefits that supported her home life, work life and care life. She found a job that let her take the occasional morning/afternoon/day off to see her mum. Her new employer also had an eldercare service as a part of its benefits scheme. When the time came, she was able to find care that was close to home, save herself money and, most importantly, allowed her to continue everyday life.
When 1000 British employees were asked about their workplace benefits, it was shown that 64% would consider changing their job for flexible working and 54% for some sort of private healthcare plan. You see Lucy, as fictitious as she may be, is definitely in the majority. She found a workplace that worked as hard for her as much as she worked hard for them.
Be more like Lucy
Lucy’s story isn’t a tragic one, nor does it have a Hollywood ending. However, it resonates for thousands of people. It is a reflection of the ageing population we find ourselves in. Currently there are over 11 million people aged 65 and, within a decade, this will increase to 13 million people, 22% of the population. This is a societal issue that affects us all, whether we want to think about it or not.
How can we make the Lucy story a reality? The success of mental wellbeing may be hard for businesses to quantify, however, giving a practical solution that deals with care can help alleviate the burden. Seniorcare by Lottie is taking huge strides when it comes to care for employees’ elderly loved ones . Their service helps UK employees find, fund and truly understand the world of care. Come have a chat if you want to give your employees much needed support with their mental wellbeing and help them take care of their families too.
Looks like it’s time to be more like Lucy.