Relations between caring for a disabled relative and labor market participation

Family-member caregivers play a key role in the lives of disabled persons needing assistance with the basic activities of daily life. However, committing to caring regularly for a relative can upset the caregiver’s work life-personal life balance and adversely affect their health (Bergeot et al. 2025).

Nearly systematic care for disabled young children, more limited care for parents 

Committing to helping a disabled relative (see Texte 24 for the definition of “disabled”) and the intensity of care given depend on the family tie and the weight of the relative’s needs. The majority of persons aged 20 to 65 in France report not being caregivers when the disabled person is a parent who does not live with them (non-cohabitation being the most common situation). For a moderately disabled parent, 75% say they are not caregivers; for a severely disabled relative, the figure is 63%. Those who do declare themselves caregivers usually assist either once a week or less regularly. 
Informal family caregiver implication is greater for a cohabiting disabled spouse or partner. In cases of severe disability, 16% of people report caring for their spouse “all or nearly all the time” while 36% say they do so at least once a day. 
Informal caregiver implication is strongest for disabled children under 16 living at home (most cases). 60% of parents with a moderately disabled child say they assist their child “all or nearly all the time” or “daily”; for severe disability the figure rises to 83%. Parents’ implication is not as strong—though they are still often caregivers—for a non-cohabiting disabled child over 16 living outside the parental home (the most common case).

Slightly under one in four persons aged 20 to 65 say they help a disabled relative.

Altogether 23% of persons between age 20 and 65 say they assist a disabled parent, spouse, child or other family member (brother or sister, for example), if only occasionally (see Figure). However, assistance levels vary widely, and it is highly likely that occasional caregiving is under-declared. 8% of France’s 20 to 65-year-olds provide continuous or daily care to a family member; the figure rises to 17% when people who care for a relative at least once a week are included. 

More frequent caring, less labor market participation

Employment levels? diminish as caregiving frequency rises, in proportions that are similar for men and women. The rate of employment for women continuously caring for a disabled relative is 16 percentage points lower than for non-caregivers, while for men the figure is 14%. The association between being a caregiver and being employed may function in different ways: having a job may limit careegiving possibilities, while caring for a disabled family member may lead some caregivers to desert the labor market.