Elder care and work-life balance: Exploring the experiences of female small business owners.

Abstract

Many women seek self-employment as a way to better manage their work and family needs, particularly when they have children. However, the requirements of self-employment may compromise work-life balance in ways which are not always recognised. This is particularly true with elder care, because the general awareness of work-life balance issues for small businesses has not translated into understanding elder care. This exploratory study focussed on a small group of self-employed women with elder care responsibilities, finding that these women proactively managed their role challenges. However, the complex inter-relationship between such responsibilities, and the strategies utilised to both manage and mitigate their impact, was found to have implications for both the individual (in terms of identity and emotion) and the firm (in terms of performance).