Seniors Housing & Healthcare Trends

MELBOURNE: Retirees are contributing an average 10 working weeks a year to the nation’s economy through unpaid care, volunteering and other community help, and one key demographic is the biggest beneficiary – working mums and dads.

Almost two-thirds of the value of the voluntary work of retirees comes from caring for family members, primarily children, as the grandparent economy booms across Australia.

The hidden economic boost from retirees has been calculated at $16.5bn annually, with $10.6bn of that coming from family caregiving, according to a new report from superannuation fund UniSuper.

It follows separate research earlier this year by National Seniors Australia that found 52 per cent of grandparents provide regular childcare, including 14 per cent who do it five or more days per week.

UniSuper’s new Retire with Purpose study says 2.5 million more Australians will move into retirement over the next decade, and the “invisible ways” in which current retirees contribute to society is the equivalent of 321,000 full-time workers – larger than Tasmania’s entire workforce.

Beyond caregiving, retirees each year provide $3.8bn of volunteering and community contributions to the economy, $1.4bn of community leadership and $700m of mentoring or skills-sharing, it says.

Nancy Pachana, professor of clinical geropsychology at the University of Queensland, said the growing use of grandparents for childcare was “a direct response to economic circumstances”.

While parents trying to juggle full-time work with raising a family benefit from grandparents’ help, Dr Pachana said there were psychological benefits for the grandparents too, as long as their caring was done in moderation.

“All forms of volunteering can confer psychological benefits, partly because it is given in that spirit of ‘I don’t want anything back’,” she said. “Some studies have said it could even be protective against dementia.”

Playing games, being more active and having more social interactions were among the biggest benefits, she said.

However, Dr Pachana warned too much family care could cause stress, burnout and physical strain for seniors.

“Too much is not good for cognition and health. If we’re talking five days a week, that’s like another job,” she said.

Soaring childcare fees and higher mortgages have increased financial pressures on families, who often turn to grandparents for support.

“Both Australian Seniors and the Council on the Ageing have had reports saying it’s the cost of living that’s driving this, but unfortunately it’s classed as invisible support,” Dr Pachana said.

“In the Retire with Purpose report, even though people are doing all of this work and caregiving, 85 per cent of retirees feel undervalued by society,” she said.

“If all these people stopped caregiving, it’s my contention that Australia itself would stop.”

UniSuper chief marketing and growth officer Dani Murrie said the grandparent economy should continue to grow, with the report finding “caring for family” was ranked as a top-three retirement priority for almost two-thirds of pre-retirees.

“With cost-of-living pressures we are experiencing, grandparent support has become essential in enabling young parents to stay in, or return to, the workforce,” she said.

Bill Barker, 80, has been volunteering during his retirement, including co-ordinating a veterans’ group and driving buses for the RSL. He also assists his family by helping out with some of his 13 grandchildren when needed.

He said one of the nicest things about retirement was when the grandchildren asked to be picked up from somewhere.

“It’s part of family – you’ve got to be there when family needs you, and with our particular family they’re never overly demanding,” said Mr Barker, who also developed a new skill during retirement – making wooden rocking horses.

“We just help out when we can and when they want it.

“We’re a different generation to our parents and grandparents – I don’t know whether in those times that there was the involvement with extended family. Or the ability. Maybe communication or transport wouldn’t allow it.”

Financial strategist Theo Marinis, himself a new grandparent, said he had noticed an increase in retirees caring for their grandchildren, which helped working parents juggle their living costs, childcare and after-school care fees.

“I think grandparents love to do it, and I speak from personal experience, and we are seeing more and more helping out,” he said.

Dr Pachana said volunteering was a “quick route to a good retirement and health”.

“For grandparents, that intergenerational exchange is meaningful, passing on knowledge or cultural experiences … part of getting older is you may not live to see that tree you planted with your grandkids grow, but you know you’ve left them a legacy, and people are recognising the value of that,” she said.