IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/sagope/v13y2023i4p21582440231202580.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Changing Trends and the Effectiveness of Informal Care Among Rural Elderly Adults in China

Author

Listed:
  • Lianjie Wang
  • Yao Tang

Abstract

The economic and social transformation of rural areas, coupled with the decline of family-based elderly care and increasing health risks, necessitates in-depth research on the effectiveness of informal care for rural elderly adults. Utilizing 10-year, four-period follow-up data from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) between 2008 and 2018, this study empirically examines the changing trends and heterogeneity of informal care. In addition, this paper identifies factors impacting on the satisfaction of rural informal care services, providing a comprehensive understanding of the effectiveness of these services for different segments of the rural elderly adults. The results indicate that the changing trends of informal care for rural elderly adults follows a differential pattern, with over 60% relying on their children, and 7.79% to 13.27% on their spouses. Only a small fraction of elderly individuals relies on institutional care and market-oriented care, with percentages below 2% and 3%, respectively. While over 95% of rural elderly adults express satisfaction with their informal care services, less than 50% are fully satisfied, and the proportion of dissatisfied elderly adults is increasing annually. Key variables impacting on the effectiveness of informal care services include marital status, health status, living arrangement, care intensity, care expenditures, pension insurance, and daily community care support. Policy options such as financial support for informal care, enhancement of the old-age security system, and the establishment socialized formal care can help alleviate the burden of informal care for rural elderly adults.

Suggested Citation

  • Lianjie Wang & Yao Tang, 2023. "Changing Trends and the Effectiveness of Informal Care Among Rural Elderly Adults in China," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:13:y:2023:i:4:p:21582440231202580
    DOI: 10.1177/21582440231202580
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/21582440231202580
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/21582440231202580?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. K. Bolin & B. Lindgren & P. Lundborg, 2008. "Informal and formal care among single‐living elderly in Europe," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(3), pages 393-409, March.
    2. Lianjie Wang & Yao Tang & Farnaz Roshanmehr & Xiao Bai & Farzad Taghizadeh-Hesary & Farhad Taghizadeh-Hesary, 2021. "The Health Status Transition and Medical Expenditure Evaluation of Elderly Population in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-14, June.
    3. Marjolein I. Broese van Groenou & Alice Boer, 2016. "Providing informal care in a changing society," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 13(3), pages 271-279, September.
    4. Bernheim, B Douglas & Shleifer, Andrei & Summers, Lawrence H, 1986. "The Strategic Bequest Motive," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 4(3), pages 151-182, July.
    5. Zeng Yi & Danan Gu & Kenneth Land, 2007. "The association of childhood socioeconomic conditions with healthy longevity at the oldest-old ages in China," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 44(3), pages 497-518, August.
    6. Liliana E. Pezzin & Robert A. Pollak & Barbara S. Schone, 2007. "Efficiency in Family Bargaining: Living Arrangements and Caregiving Decisions of Adult Children and Disabled Elderly Parents," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 53(1), pages 69-96, March.
    7. Bonsang, Eric, 2009. "Does informal care from children to their elderly parents substitute for formal care in Europe?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 143-154, January.
    8. Connelly, Rachel, 1992. "The Effect of Child Care Costs on Married Women's Labor Force Participation," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 74(1), pages 83-90, February.
    9. Kim, Hyuncheol Bryant & Lim, Wilfredo, 2015. "Long-term care insurance, informal care, and medical expenditures," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 128-142.
    10. Carmichael, Fiona & Charles, Susan, 2003. "The opportunity costs of informal care: does gender matter?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(5), pages 781-803, September.
    11. Juan Oliva-Moreno & Luz María Peña-Longobardo & Leticia García-Mochón & María del Río Lozano & Isabel Mosquera Metcalfe & María del Mar García-Calvente, 2019. "The economic value of time of informal care and its determinants (The CUIDARSE Study)," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(5), pages 1-15, May.
    12. Zeng Yi & Danan Gu & Kenneth Land, 2007. "Erratum to: The association of childhood socioeconomic conditions with healthy longevity at the oldest-old ages in China," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 44(4), pages 1-1, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Norton, E.C., 2016. "Health and Long-Term Care," Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, in: Piggott, John & Woodland, Alan (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 951-989, Elsevier.
    2. David C. Grabowski & Edward C. Norton & Courtney H. Van Houtven, 2012. "Informal Care," Chapters, in: Andrew M. Jones (ed.), The Elgar Companion to Health Economics, Second Edition, chapter 30, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    3. Matteo Lippi Bruni & Cristina Ugolini, 2016. "Delegating home care for the elderly to external caregivers? An empirical study on Italian data," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 155-183, March.
    4. Urwin, Sean & Lau, Yiu-Shing & Grande, Gunn & Sutton, Matthew, 2023. "Informal caregiving and the allocation of time: implications for opportunity costs and measurement," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 334(C).
    5. Cristina Vilaplana Prieto & Sergi Jiménez-Martín, 2015. "Unmet needs in formal care: kindling the spark for caregiving behavior," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 153-184, June.
    6. Matteo Lippi Bruni & Cristina Ugolini, 2016. "Delegating home care for the elderly to external caregivers? An empirical study on Italian data," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 155-183, March.
    7. Max Groneck & Frederic Krehl, 2014. "Bequests and Informal Long-Term Care: Evidence from the HRS Exit Interviews," Working Paper Series in Economics 79, University of Cologne, Department of Economics.
    8. Nguyen, Ha Trong & Connelly, Luke Brian, 2014. "The effect of unpaid caregiving intensity on labour force participation: Results from a multinomial endogenous treatment model," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 115-122.
    9. Christophe Courbage & Guillem Montoliu-Montes & Joël Wagner, 2020. "The effect of long-term care public benefits and insurance on informal care from outside the household: empirical evidence from Italy and Spain," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 21(8), pages 1131-1147, November.
    10. Hollingsworth, Bruce & Ohinata, Asako & Picchio, Matteo & Walker, Ian, 2022. "Does It Matter Who Cares for You? The Effect of Substituting Informal with Formal Personal Care on the Care Recipients' Health," IZA Discussion Papers 15457, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Yoko Niimi, 2016. "The “Costs” of informal care: an analysis of the impact of elderly care on caregivers’ subjective well-being in Japan," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 779-810, December.
    12. Justina Klimaviciute & Pierre Pestieau, 2023. "The economics of long‐term care. An overview," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(4), pages 1192-1213, September.
    13. Costa-Font, Joan & Jiménez-Martín, Sergi & Vilaplana-Prieto, Cristina, 2022. "Do Public Caregiving Subsidies and Supports affect the Provision of Care and Transfers?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    14. Crawford, Rowena & Stoye, George & Zaranko, Ben, 2021. "Long-term care spending and hospital use among the older population in England," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    15. Loretti I. Dobrescu, 2015. "To Love or to Pay: Savings and Health Care in Older Age," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 50(1), pages 254-299.
    16. Bergeot, Julien & Tenand, Marianne, 2021. "Does informal care delay nursing home entry? Evidence from Dutch linked survey and administrative data," CEPREMAP Working Papers (Docweb) 2105, CEPREMAP.
    17. Ludovico Carrino & Vahé Nafilyan & Mauricio Avendano, 2023. "Should I Care or Should I Work? The Impact of Work on Informal Care," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(2), pages 424-455, March.
    18. Carrino, L.; & Nafilyan, V.; & Avendaño Pabon, M.;, 2019. "Should I Care or Should I Work? The Impact of Working in Older Age on Caregiving," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 19/23, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    19. Fischer, Björn & Müller, Kai-Uwe, 2020. "Time to care? The effects of retirement on informal care provision," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    20. Miriam Marcén & José Molina, 2012. "Informal caring-time and caregiver satisfaction," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 13(6), pages 683-705, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:13:y:2023:i:4:p:21582440231202580. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.