Spatio-temporal constraints of carer-workers in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area: An exploratory analysis using potential path areas

Carer-workers are individuals providing regular unpaid care to an adult dependent while simultaneously employed in the paid labour market, and the group represents a significant portion of the Canadian adult population. Despite the prevalence of unpaid care in Canada, very limited research has explored the spatio-temporal tensions that carer-workers experience. The objective of this study is to explore the space–time constraints experienced by carer-workers. One way of measuring both space and time constraints on an individual is the foundational time geography concept of the Space-Time Prism, and its two-dimensional counterpart, the Potential Path Area (PPA). We collected three to seven day-long trip diaries of 25 carer-workers in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area in 2017–18, including all trips made over the diary period and whether the trip involved care work. We developed a customized Python tool and used Open Street Maps to derive PPAs for 12 of the sample carer-workers, which were aggregated to form daily PPAs. Descriptive analyses of the PPAs are presented, and comparisons of PPA size, and therefore, daily accessibility, across carer-workers’ sociodemographic and economic indicators, days of the week, and level of caregiving intensity are examined. Through its ability to represent, quantitatively and visually, the accessibility differences across various population groups, and to fill a gap in our understanding of carer-workers, the PPA represents an important methodological avenue for continuing research into carer-workers in Canada and around the world.