1. Over 45 and Working in Aged Care Over 45 and Working in Aged Care Results of a pilot study

2. Background Using the Australian aged care sector as a case study, this study is part of a large project that aims to: Provide a detailed understanding of the factors that promote or hinder the retention in paid work of women aged 45+ Develop a model of employment decision making that is relevant to the unique circumstances of mature age women Generate new policy frameworks to strengthen labour security in the aged care sector.

3. Background: Tackling the Invisibility of Older Women in the Labour Market There a large knowledge gaps on mature age women in the workforce due to a lack of... A) data & B) theoretical frameworks sensitive to gender and age differences and able to capture the complex array of reasons for supplying caring labour

4. Background: The Big Project Will.... Assemble available data on womens employment after age 45 Collect new quantitative data via a 2- stage survey of aged care nurses and carers aged 45+ Collect qualitative data from carers aged 45+

5. The Pilot Study Collected qualitative data via interviews with 14 carers/nursing assistants employed in 2 Western Australian aged care agencies ranging in age from 47 to 79.

6. The interviews.... Focused on the womens feelings about their work Can we talk about some of the things that you enjoy about your work or that make your work difficult? How do you feel about working in aged and community care? Attempted to get the womens perspectives on their experience as an older worker Could you tell me how your experiences of work now are different from when you were younger?

7. The results.... Provide new data on many issues relevant to the paid care work roles undertaken by older women Elaborate on existing themes in the feminist economic literature on caring labour Relationships Social value Focus attention on the meaning, significance and risks of the relationships between the carer and care giver for the (paid) care giver

8. No country for old women Ive got an aunt who I talk to about it a little bit but she worked in aged care herself and she hated it. She sort of just says I know how you feel and of course shes a great one, she says And you know theres nothing else out there for a woman of your age. That really helps. And all you can do is say, Well probably thats very true.

9. No country for old women Just at the moment its not even hardly money because of me getting only a few hours so thats not even helping at the moment. Im not in a position where I could even retire before the retiring age because my super [pension] is virtually negligible and I lost most of whatever I had from the crash just in the last couple of years. So I have no option. I have to work until I retire.

10. To Care is to Relate You get to know every one of them intimately so youre not only just there helping them with the day-to-day things; youre actually involved in their life but not that you take it home but – you know what I mean – if they have a period where they start to talk about their family and all that, which might only last for a minute, you actually know that history part of them because youve been there with them before so you can still interact with them. Two minutes down the track they cant remember that theyre 90 and theyre in a nursing home and they might be waiting for their mother to come and pick them up. Its really hard to describe but you just love them to pieces.

11. Caring is an important source of wellbeing for care workers I feel its very worthwhile – you get a lot out of it from the people by allowing them to stay home and I look at it that if I come out of a job and they have smiled at least once in the day, its been worthwhile. It means Im occupied but Im giving something. Im giving a part of myself …

12. Achieving good relationships involves skill and effort You know the ones that you cant do that (laugh and joke) with; the ones that you have to help a little bit more because of dementia and that type of thing, so you can work with 18 people in the day and you have 12 different behaviours, so youre actually not multi-skilling, but multi- personality to suit that particular person that youre working with at that time.

13. Good relationships need time If some of them need more time with you that it would be nice if we could get more funding to instead of an hour rush in, clean the kitchen, clean the bathroom…. But Id just like you to talk to me today – you wish you could have the hour and a half because that means youve cleaned everything and youve got a bit more than ten minutes to sit down and say Tell me, what did you do for the weekend? Nothing I havent spoken to anyone Oh well, got to go now and thats it. Well Im sorry Darl, Im off. Bye.

14. Not all relationships are positive. I try to get past it some days, I do. It depends on how my backs feeling or [if] the clients in a foul mood and blames you for something, and sometimes I just find I dont really like working with clients particularly. I have to be honest that it is the clients, but I make the best of it and I certainly get on well with the ones I do work with. I really wouldnt like to continue doing it until I retire. I really wouldnt. I find it too demanding

15. Relationships raise the emotional stakes of work Relationships raise the emotional stakes of work Some things are never going to be easy to put into a little box and say Im not going to deal with you anymore......The funeral Im going to this afternoon, I saw him last Friday – not this Friday, the Friday before. He died Friday afternoon. Perfectly alright when I saw him in the morning. Better than hed been for ages and then he was gone. So that was a bit hard to deal with.

16. Relationships can create traps for care workers I did at one stage – oh, 18 months or so ago – put in my resignation... and I was all systems go and then I was like a little kid – I couldnt say goodbye to my clients. I just could not leave those people so it was a panic fax went through to my co-ordinator at the time and Ring me because I need help

17. Acknowledgement and reciprocity are important You know, were human beings – weve got emotions and it doesnt matter whether its this job or whether its in your home with your children. You say youre doing a good job and I know they say to me before I go out the door (Name), youve done a perfect job again. Thank you. Pretty well every morning this one particular one… Thank you for what youve done today for me, thank you (name). So Im happy to go back there the next day.

18. Low pay also diminishes carers sense how the community values their contribution They could go to Subway and make sandwiches and get more money than they get looking after peoples lives.

19. Community perceptions that body work is dirty diminish some carers sense of their works value Its all tied into that how do other people see my job and Ive said people see it as quite a demeaning sort of a job. So that affects me. That makes me feel dissatisfied a lot in life I suppose and I hope that doesnt reflect on the way I do my job.

20. Research Directions Further work on the experiences and opportunities for older women in paid work Their particular economic vulnerabilities, including those associated with being involved in care work Further work on the communicative elements of aged care work How these affect outcomes for care givers and receivers The determinants of quality How can they become less invisible and poorly rewarded?