Being a family caregiver can be financially stressful. In addition to taking on the costs of caring for a close friend or family member, caregiving makes it difficult to work at a full time job. Caregivers may struggle to stay employed and be financially stable. This resource discusses job flexibility and possible options for getting paid for what you do as a family caregiver.
Job Flexibility:
Family caregivers can discuss several options with their employer that can make it easier to keep employment: flexible hours, remote work, job-sharing, or per diem work (by-the-day or on-call work). Not all employers will be open to these options, and family caregivers need to know that job-sharing and per diem work can cut down on the number of hours they will work and result in lower income. Important benefits like health insurance may not be available with job-shares and per-diem.
When looking for work, family caregivers can put an emphasis on finding an employer that will honor their work as a caregiver by allowing the options above. One course of action is looking for work for a non-profit, where employees and management know first-hand how vital unpaid caregivers can be for the safety and stability of those who need care.
The Nonprofit Association of Washington has a non-profit job page that can help.
Idealist.org, a 502(c)3 nonprofit, is a site dedicated to listing nonprofit and volunteer employment. Job listings can be filtered by location preferences, on-site or remote and hybrid work (part time on-site, part-time remote). Jobs may be full time or part time. Salary ranges are listed and organization information is included.
Flexjobs lists flexible jobs at both for-profits and nonprofits. It requires a paid subscription and states that it screens for scams.
An alternative to traditional workplaces that many caregivers have embraced is gig and freelance work. Gig work can be done with a single company or service or with several companies as freelance work. Well-known gig work employers include companies such as Uber, Instacart, DoorDash, and Rover. These positions let caregivers decide their own hours. A smartphone and a car are required.
Freelance work is a bit different, with the companies and/or individuals that you work for changing regularly. Several websites cater to freelancers, such as fiverr, taskrabbit, and upwork. Flexjobs, noted above, also has freelance job offerings on its site.