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The "Demise of the Caregiving Daughter"? Gender Employment Gaps and the Use of Formal and Informal Care in Europe

Author

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  • Bonsang, Eric

    (Université Paris-Dauphine)

  • Costa-Font, Joan

    (London School of Economics)

Abstract

We revisit the universality of the "caregiving daughter effect", which holds that daughters tend to provide more care to their older parents than sons. Based on rich European data, we document evidence of such an effect in countries with large gender disparities in employment rates, where having daughters also depresses the demand for formal care. In contrast, we find evidence consistent with the "demise of the caregiving daughter" when exposed to narrower gender gaps, where there is no more daughters' effect on formal care. These results point to a reconsideration of caregiving system design amidst the rise of female employment.

Suggested Citation

  • Bonsang, Eric & Costa-Font, Joan, 2023. "The "Demise of the Caregiving Daughter"? Gender Employment Gaps and the Use of Formal and Informal Care in Europe," IZA Discussion Papers 16615, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp16615
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    informal care; formal care; daughters; caregiving daughter effect; gender employment gap; Europe; care substitution; social norms;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination
    • J3 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs

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