La provisión de cuidados informales a las personas con discapacidad: Horas de cuidados y participación en el mercado laboral

Resumen: En este trabajo se analiza el perfil de las personas que proporcionan cuidados informales a personas con discapacidad en Andalucía en comparación con el resto de España-, y se evalúa cómo la atención a estas personas condiciona las posibilidades de las mujeres en el mercado de trabajo. Los resultados permiten afirmar que la fuerte feminización de la atención a las personas con discapacidad afecta de forma significativa a sus posibilidades laborales constriñendo las oportunidades de progreso de las mujeres. Abstract: The purpose of this research was to examine the profiles of those who provide informal care to disabled people. Among other issues we assess how care giving for disabled people constraints labor market opportunities of caregivers, particularly for women. To this aim the paper has followed two alternative econometric strategies to model the likelihood of being working and the amount of time devoted to care-giving, by those providing it. First, we considered the two decisions as independent from each other (i.e. we assumed the number of hours of care is exogenous -does not depend- on the probability of working in the labor market and vice versa). Thus we estimate two separate equations, the first to estimate the correlation between the number of hours of care provided to the disabled by the informal caregiver against a set of variables that potentially could condition on this (by Ordinary Least Squares, OLS); and the second to determine the effect of some factors on the probability that the caregiver combines this activity with the participation in the labor market -using a Probit regression procedure-. Secondly, we considered that both decisions are taken simultaneously. Therefore we run both equations as part of a simultaneous equations system. As we have to deal simultaneously with a discrete defined variable (likelihood of having a job) and a continuous one (care-giving hours), we run a Two-Stage Probit Least Square model (2SPLS), which is similar to a two-stage instrumental variable technique. Due to the simultaneity we face potential endogeneity problems. To sort this out, reduced-form equations for each of the endogenous variables are estimated initially. The reduced form equation for the continuous variable is estimated in the usual fashion, using OLS, while the reduced-form equation for the binary choice variable is estimated via Probit model. The parameters from the reduced-form equations are then used to generate a predicted value for each endogenous variable, and these predicted values are then substituted serving as instruments. It has been shown that the estimates obtained in this second stage are consistent. To implement the above mentioned methodology data from EDAD- 2008 are used. This survey contains a representative sample of disabled people from all over Spain, being representative at the Spanish regions level. We constraint our sample to those aged from 25 to 64 years old providing informal care. Among the set of regressors we consider disabled persons sex, caregivers age, education level, marital status, degree of disability, relationship with the disabled and controls for the different regions of Spain. The independent estimation shows that a woman informal caregiver working in the labor market devotes, on average, 3 hours and 15 minutes less to care than a comparable one but not working in the labor market. The probability of being working for money is reduced by hours of care. Likewise, the caregivers age parameter is significant and positive showing that older care-givers (women) spend more time on this task. However, this correlation does not hold when the decision of being working in the labor market is considered. Caregivers education does not influence the hours of care, but the effect is significant and positive for participation in the labor market. Separated or divorced women assume more burden of care and are more likely to get paid work than married women. When we compared regions, andalusian women spend, on average, more time on care-giving and present lower likelihood of being working (for money). Regarding with the estimation of the simultaneous estimation, the instrument replacing the probability to have a paid job exhibits a significant negative correlation with hours of care, being this coefficient bigger than when we considered independent estimations. However the instrument used to replace hours of care shows a lack of causality between the hours of care and the probability to participate in the labor market. Thus, we may infer that the choice to work or not in the labor market for women is conditioned on the care-giving decision, but the reverse is not necessarily true. Our descriptive analyses suggests that women (aged 25-64) keep providing more informal care than men, which makes them to reduce their labour supply. Despite women\'s role is evolving, a long way to run still remains. Nevertheless, despite of the fact that we should take these results with caution as the available instruments are weak -due to data constraints-, our estimates confirm the need to analyze both decisions simultaneously to avoid biases. To conclude, from the results it follows that it is essential the institutions provide formal support resources to meet the needs of the disabled and dependant people in order to improve their live conditions and also the live conditions of their caregivers, especially women. The institutions should promote an acceptable division of labour between men and women, which implies that the availability of women continuing to take on the role of altruistic care-giver should not be assumed. Labour market policies should emphasize on making flexibility a key issue for those who provide informal care and wish to develop a professional career, as that is the only way to guarantee equality of opportunities. Additionally the provision of services, on a daily basis, to assist informal individual carers has to be a priority for health authorities.