When everything is falling on you: Working carers’ capabilities to reconcile care and employment

Abstract

Samuel Briones’ dissertation, "When everything is falling on you": Working carers' capabilities to reconcile care and employment, investigates how social policies shape the lives of the growing number of Europeans who combine paid employment with unpaid care for family or friends. Focusing on the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Spain, the study utilises the Capability Approach (developed by Amartya Sen) to evaluate not just which policies exist on paper, but whether they provide working carers with the actual freedom (capabilities) to balance work and care in a meaningful way. The research addresses the increasing "care gap" caused by population ageing and the shift toward deinstitutionalisation (moving care from institutions to the home), which places unprecedented pressure on families. The thesis is structured around three empirical studies: 1. National Policy Design (Flexible Work Arrangements): Chapter 2 compares Flexible Work Arrangements (FWAs) across the three countries. The findings show that policy design dictates accessibility. The Netherlands employs a "universal" scope, making flexibility available to most workers regardless of their reasons. In contrast, Spain and Slovenia often condition access on specific care responsibilities (e.g., childcare), which restricts availability and inadvertently reinforces traditional gender roles by limiting men's opportunities to engage in care. 2. Local Implementation (Long-Term Care): Chapter 3 examines how Long-Term Care (LTC) policies are implemented in municipalities in the Netherlands and Slovenia. The study reveals that local implementation often fragments information, making it difficult for carers to find support. Furthermore, needs assessment procedures in both countries tend to view carers as "resources" or co-producers of care rather than individuals with their own support needs, often leading to overburdening. 3. Lived Experiences (Navigational Agency): Chapter 4 explores the personal experiences of carers in Spain and Slovenia. It highlights the concept of "navigational agency"—the capacity of carers to navigate complex systems and conflicting demands. Carers described the heavy burden of acting as mediators between bureaucratic institutions and care recipients. They often found formal services inadequate or too rigid, forcing them to rely on informal workplace flexibility and social networks to manage the unpredictability of care emergencies. The dissertation concludes that current policies often fail to support carers effectively because they treat employment and care as separate domains. Briones argues that for LTC systems to be sustainable, they must move beyond viewing carers merely as resources. Instead, policies should recognise carers as "co-clients," supporting their agency to navigate systems and maintaining their well-being and economic participation.