Summary - Paid work and informal care

Many working people in the Netherlands also provide help to a sick household member, a relative or a friend, also called informal care. This report describes how people combine paid work with providing informal care, and for whom they do that. In many cases the combination works well, partly because people carry out work and care tasks on different days. Sometimes, combining work and informal care is associated with a lower quality of life. This is the case, for example, for workers who are providing intensive help or who feel obliged to help because no one else is available. Discussing their informal care tasks with their supervisor and arranging flexible working hours can improve the quality of life of these working informal carers.