The Change in the Care Work and the Policy for the Elderly Care System in Sweden

The Questionnaire Survey about the Care Workers for Elderly in Solna City

Abstract

This article examines the changes in working conditions and responsibilities of care workers in Sweden under the new trends of the public care system for the elderly. We discuss mainly two issues concerning the care work under the new trends, namely, “marketization” and “informalization.” First, we examine the competition in labor markets and in organizations between traditional care workers (vårdbitrade) and newly educated care workers ( under-sköterska) . They work together in institutional or home-based settings. Second, we consider changes in their working condition and job duties. By analyzing the data from our questionnaire survey of care workers in institution and home helpers in Solna city, we find the difference between them in working conditions and job duties are small. We also find that they often quit their jobs and do not stay very long in organizations and labor markets of care workers, not only because their pays are low, but because the society's evaluation of care work is low. They also feel strong emotional stress due to the reduction in the number of staffs and in the time workers are allowed to spend with the elderly. They are required to do more physical care and housekeeping tasks than before. Moreover, they need to do these tasks in a shorter time than before. As a result, care workers don't have enough time to communicate with the elderly, which leads to their job dissatisfaction. Care work consists of physical care, housekeeping, and emotional or communication care. Our survey suggests that the third aspect of care work is the most important in the formation of care workers' occupational identity. A public policy for the elderly in the future should reform the relationship between care-givers and their clients by taking such realty of care workers' conditions into consideration.