Determinants of the Labour Force Status of Female Carers

In Australia, as in other countries, people who have significant responsibilities for caring for a person with a disability or long-term health problem have lower employment rates than those without caring responsibilities. This paper uses data from the 2006 Families Caring for a Person with a Disability Survey to estimate the determinants of the labour force status of carers. While carers do have relatively low employment rates, over half of the carers who are not employed say they would like to be in paid employment. The major factors that are associated with lower rates of employment for female carers were having a low level of educational attainment, poor health of the carer, providing full-time care, caring for a child with a disability and not having people outside the household to provide support.