Travel related to caregiving, such as escorting a child to school or accompanying a parent to medical appointments, is often linked with increased stress and reduced happiness among women, but not men, reveals a study from the University of Michigan. This disparity highlights the societal tendency to prioritise travel for employment over “mobility of care.”
Published in the journal Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, the study provides evidence that public transportation planning has historically overlooked caregiving travel’s unique needs, predominantly affecting women. This research is pioneering in its quantitative analysis of the impact of caregiving travel on well-being. It expands upon earlier findings that women are more likely to undertake domestic caregiving tasks than men.
The researchers utilised data from the 2021 American Time Use Survey by the U.S. Department of Labor to examine the correlation between daily activities and personal well-being, encompassing happiness, stress, and sense of meaning. They discovered that women, regardless of their or their male partner’s employment status, were about 60% more likely to engage in caregiving travel during a typical weekday—23% for women compared to 14% for men. During these journeys, women exclusively reported heightened stress and diminished happiness and meaning, unlike during leisure activities, where such feelings were not reported.
The study suggests that time constraints imposed by balancing work and family duties might contribute to this stress. It shows that men in full-time employment who also perform caregiving duties tend to spend less time on caregiving and household tasks such as shopping and maintenance than their female counterparts, allowing them more time for work-related activities.
Atiyya Shaw, U-M Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the study’s senior author, notes that employment does not influence women’s likelihood of undertaking caregiving travel as it does for men. Interestingly, men with employed female partners are more likely to engage in caregiving travel than those without partners, a trend not seen among women.
The researchers also pointed out limitations in their study, such as the inability to differentiate between same-sex and different-sex partners and the broader spectrum of gender identities and family structures, which could influence the relationship between caregiving travel and well-being.
The study critically evaluates how transportation planning contributes to these disparities and suggests improvements that could mitigate them. Amy Fong, a doctoral student in civil and environmental engineering at U-M and the study’s first author emphasised the growing awareness among transportation engineers of how cultural and societal norms have shaped the design of transport systems and, by extension, people’s daily lives.
Historically, U.S. transportation systems have been designed to focus on commuting patterns, thus prioritising work-related travel over unpaid caregiving tasks. Shaw and Fong argue that this focus reflects a broader societal undervaluation of domestic labour.
To address these issues, Shaw and Fong recommend several strategies.
Local governments should enhance the safety and accessibility of alternative walking, biking, and public transit options for those who usually require assistance to travel. The federal government could streamline funding across different agencies to improve transportation services for people with disabilities, older adults, and low-income people. State transportation departments might focus on projects facilitating independent travel for the elderly and disabled. Local governments and school districts could collaborate with initiatives like Safe Routes to School to promote children’s independent mobility.
Future travel surveys should differentiate between types of trips to better understand the specific impacts of caregiving-related mobility on quality of life.
These recommendations underscore the need for a more inclusive approach to transportation planning that acknowledges the essential nature of caregiving travel and its significant impact on caregivers’ quality of life.
More information: Amy Z. Fong et al, Well-being implications of mobility of care: Gender differences among U.S. adults, Transportation Research Part D Transport and Environment. DOI: 10.1016/j.trd.2024.104109
Journal information: Transportation Research Part D Transport and Environment Provided by University of Michigan
