Leisure and caring: the experience of six women carers of long-term dependants

Abstract

This thesis is an exploratory study of the relationship between caring work, a role generally assigned to women, and leisure experience. The caring work in this instance is caring (or tending) for those who are long-term dependants. This work is unpaid and usually takes place in the private home. Long-term dependants may be children or adults with intellectual, physical or psychological disabilities which render them dependent on someone's care on a continuous basis all the rest of their lives. The study seeks to make visible the caring work of six women who have permanent and primary responsibility for long-term dependants, who are their kin and with whom they live. The study explores how these six women experience leisure in the context of this caring responsibility. The study was carried out through indepth face-to-face interviews which were based on the qualitative form of interview called the standardised open-ended interview. These interviews were taped and transcribed for analysis. Findings concerning these women's caring and leisure experiences are compared with findings in the literature on caring and women's leisure. The literature reviewed is predominantly feminist, coming from a perspective based on the belief that women generally have less power and control over their lives than men and that there is a need to bring about a positive change in the social position of women. One conclusion of this study is that an essential component of quality leisure for these women is access to time, which is compartmentalised and defined as theirs with no caring responsibility attached. This time is one in which they can choose what they want to do and in which they can experience freedom with positive feelings. Another conclusion is that having time to do what they enjoy, with no caring responsibility, enables the carers to feel revived and able to face the next round with a renewed sense of their own identity. Among recommendations is that a pool of suitable substitute carers be made available on a seven-days-a-week basis, paid for by the state or local councils, to enable more women the respite they need in order to gain leisure experience and an improved sense of well-being.