Eldercare and the Psychology of Work Behavior in the Twenty-First Century

Abstract

Over the next two decades, many countries, including the USA, will experience an unprecedented and seismic demographic transition as their older adult populations grow, both in number and as a proportion of the overall population. During this time, the number of working adults with eldercare responsibilities will grow substantially, posing a threat to the well-being and economic stability of both workers and their organizations. This phenomenon is a long anticipated symptom of the greater “eldercare crisis,” yet the response of organizations to this impending change has been relatively slow, and the experiences of working caregivers remain an almost entirely neglected area of research in the organizational sciences. In this special issue, we begin a conversation with the IO/OB community regarding the importance of studying the experiences of caregivers and their employing organizations. We introduce six original research papers, which highlight various issues facing eldercarers and the implications of these findings for employees and their employers. We also summarize themes from across these and other published papers on eldercare, providing an overview and directions for future research on eldercare with the intention of springboarding more research on this critical and timely topic. We end with next steps for researchers and practitioners who wish to collaborate to bring about meaningful innovative solutions to this problem.