Abstract
A persistent, unresolved challenge is that of retaining and engaging workers. This challenge is especially problematic in the crisis-hit adult care sector. The sector is troubled by assertions of poor quality care, facing high worker turnover yet needing substantial growth as the populations age, and informal care declines. Many workers remaining within the sector are themselves aging, so supporting the retention and thriving of these later-career workers is a key imperative.
This developmental paper proposes an identity lens to examine the experiences of later-career adult care workers. The intention is to better understand how their working-lives might be extended - moving beyond their needing to work into later-career, to wanting to work. Extending their working-lives is significant not just for the sector, but for the employees themselves. Sustaining their desire to work helps retain a sense-of-meaning in later-life while supporting greater financial security.