A case for an extended unpaid carer leave entitlement? : inquiry report / Productivity Commission

"Informal carers - spouses, children, extended family and friends - make an invaluable contribution to the care and wellbeing of older people and the community. And while caring can be a source of personal satisfaction, juggling paid work and care is challenging, especially for people providing high levels of care.Caring for older people can affect carers' participation in the workforce as well as their health and wellbeing.Working carers, who are mostly women, can find their paid work and caring commitments so demanding thatthey quit their jobs or retire earlier than anticipated to concentrate on caring. With the population ageing andmore women participating in the workforce, there will be more people combining work and care, making itincreasingly important for informal carers to be able to reconcile their work and caring responsibilities.This inquiry is about a recommendation made by the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safetyfor the Australian Government to assess the potential impacts of including an entitlement to extended unpaidleave for carers in the National Employment Standards. The Productivity Commission was subsequentlyasked to examine the economic and social costs and benefits of providing an extended unpaid leaveentitlement to informal carers of older people in the National Employment Standards."--Executive summary.