News Release

February 3, 2009 | PDF

 

POLL: One in Three British Columbians Juggle With Career While Acting As Caregiver

Majority surveyed agree more help is needed from employers to maintain balance in overstretched lives—and that this trend will grow in the current economy

Results of a Mustel Group poll commissioned by the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) on caregivers, mental health and the workplace were released today revealing that one in three British Columbians have juggled the pressures of the workplace while caring for a family member with a disability, complex need or long-term health problem, and of that, one third (11% of all British Columbians) were specifically caring for a family member with a mental health problem. In addition, more than three-quarters (76%) of these caregivers aged 35 to 54 experienced a negative impact on their own mental well being as a result.

“These are significant numbers, which will only grow as baby boomers continue to age. It also illustrates that mental well-being is an issue affecting not only the employee, but also the family,” says Bev Gutray, Executive Director of CMHA’s BC Division. “With mental illness costing the Canadian economy billions of dollars in disability claims and absenteeism annually, it’s clear that employers’ bottom lines will benefit by showing leadership and helping employees maintain good mental health in the face of significant stresses at home.”

The survey is just the latest in a mounting body of evidence that caregivers are losing the battle to balance their careers and family lives, often at the expense of their own mental health. A majority of employed caregivers (66%) experienced a negative impact on their mental well-being as a result of balancing work and home responsibilities. Working women also felt a greater impact with more than three-quarters (76%) citing negative impact compared to their male counterparts (55%) . This sends a clear message to employers that a significant slice of the work force is facing serious threats to their mental health, particularly during a time that is considered the most productive in one’s career.

Additional key findings on caregiving and the workplace include:

• Only about one in four caregivers found their employers ‘very’ helpful: When asked how helpful a person’s employer was in working to establish a reasonable balance between the requirements of job, personal well-being, and the needs of an ill or disabled family member, a little over half (56%) indicated that employers were helpful (27% very helpful, 29% somewhat helpful). Those who have not been caregivers while employed but might be in the future were only slightly more optimistic (65%) than actual caregivers.
• “With the state of the economy and the aging workforce, more people in the workforce will also be caregivers, needing support from their employers”: 81% of British Columbians agreed with this statement. Forty-three per cent strongly agreed , with women agreeing significantly more often than men.
• A third (33%) of those who were caregivers of a family member with a disability, complex need or long-term health problem while also gainfully employed cared for a person with a mental health problem. Again, women (40%) more than men (25%) provided this kind of care.
  

Additional studies support the growing evidence that more help is needed from employers to help the workforce balance their multiple roles. According to a new report from the Vanier Institute of the Family, Canadians are straining more than ever to balance family and work, but a decade of efforts to improve the situation has done little to ease the pressure. Forty-four per cent of Canadians say their work has a negative impact on their family and interferes with the time they spend with their children, the report found, while 26 per cent of fathers and 33 per cent of mothers suffer excessive stress from lack of time.

In financial terms, work-family conflict is estimated to cost $2.7 billion a year directly and $10 billion indirectly through issues like absenteeism, lateness and high turnover. Workers who experience a lot of work-family conflict, for instance, miss an average of 13.2 days of work a year, compared to 5.2 days for those with less stress.

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In other studies, according to Health Canada’s latest Work-Life Conflict in the New Millenium report, high work-life conflict was found to be associated with a number of indicators of physical and mental health problems at the employee level. Employees who are stressed, depressed and burnt out are not as productive as those in good mental health. Stress, depression and burnout are also linked to increased absenteeism, greater use of prescription medicine and employee assistance programs (EAP), and lower levels of creativity, innovation and risk-taking. These factors, in turn, can all be expected to negatively impact an organization's bottom line and Canada's ability to be globally competitive, and significantly increases health care costs.

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Workplace mental health and the family are being examined at the seventh annual Bottom Line Conference. Presented by the BC Division of CMHA on March 11, 2009, in Vancouver, the event sheds light on mental illness in the workplace, to help demystify the social stigma towards those who suffer from it and encourage employers, employees and families to work together to effectively combat mental illness.

In a special appearance to close the conference, Canadian musician and 2008 Mental Health Voices Award Winner Matthew Good will share his personal struggle with depression and mental illness as well as discuss how increasing public awareness can make a difference in reducing stigma toward mental illness. In addition to mental health experts, the afternoon panel features incredible personal stories of parents and caregivers, of how mental illness has affected their lives both at home and in the workplace.

Bottom Line 2009: Workplace Mental Illness and the Family will attract more than 250 business leaders and managers, human resource and Employee Assistance Plan professionals, benefits providers, government officials, health service providers, union representatives and employees. Through Bottom Line, CMHA is playing a leadership role in expanding the workplace’s focus from the employee with mental health problems to the impact on the employee’s mental health due to a caregiving role. The conference acts as a vehicle for expanding dialogue and highlighting workplaces that have discovered ways to support employees and meet their bottom line. Such emerging practices will have an impact on human resource policies and practices and information that can lead to new or extended benefits for employees.

For more information, or to register, visit www.bottomlineconference.ca. A survey and discussion group to collect more real-life stories of caregiving and the workplace has also just been launched on the website. Proceeds from the conference benefit CMHA BC Division.

About the Survey

The Mustel Group conducted the survey on behalf of the Canadian Mental Health Association from January 8th to 15th, 2009. Five hundred telephone interviews were conducted with adults 18 and over. The margin of error is ±4.4% at the 95% level of confidence.

For more information and to schedule interviews, contact:
Almira Bardai
AVID Communications
604-568-7214