Abstract

As the aging population continues to grow in the United States and worldwide, an increasing number of employees find themselves balancing work and eldercare responsibilities at home. Research in eldercare and work-family has predominantly focused on the adverse effects of eldercare, often resulting in the discrimination of employees with family caregiving responsibilities. In this thesis, I challenge the conventional conceptualization of eldercare as a burden and propose that eldercare involvement may yield positive effects. Furthermore, I comprehensively examine the impact of employee eldercare responsibilities on work outcomes while drawing comparisons with childcare responsibilities, using three groups – employees with eldercare responsibilities, employees with childcare responsibilities, and employees with both eldercare and childcare responsibilities in Study 3. Employing both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, this thesis enriches the work-family literature by incorporating various mechanisms within the caregiving context. The investigation offers valuable implications for enhancing employee work outcomes and fostering an inclusive workplace environment.

Committee Chair

Hillary Anger Elfenbein

Committee Members

Erik Dane; Hannah Birnbaum; Julia Bear; William Bottom

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Author's Department

Organizational Behavior

Author's School

Olin Business School

Document Type

Dissertation

Date of Award

1-3-2025

Language

English (en)

Available for download on Monday, January 10, 2028

Share

COinS