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Careful in the Crisis? Determinants of Older People's Informal Care Receipt in Crisis‐Struck European Countries

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  • Joan Costa‐Font
  • Martin Karlsson
  • Henning Øien

Abstract

Macroeconomic downturns can have an important impact on the receipt of informal and formal long‐term care, because recessions increase the number of unemployed and affect net wealth. This paper investigates how the market for informal care changed during and after the Great Recession in Europe, with particular focus on the determinants of care receipt. We use data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, which includes a rich set of variables covering waves before and after the Great Recession. We find evidence of an increase in the availability of informal care after the economic downturn when controlling for year and country fixed effects. This trend is mainly driven by changes in care provision of individuals not cohabiting with the care recipient. We also find evidence of several determinants of informal care receipt changing during the crisis – such as physical needs, personal wealth, and household structures. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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  • Joan Costa‐Font & Martin Karlsson & Henning Øien, 2016. "Careful in the Crisis? Determinants of Older People's Informal Care Receipt in Crisis‐Struck European Countries," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(S2), pages 25-42, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:25:y:2016:i:s2:p:25-42
    DOI: 10.1002/hec.3385
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    Cited by:

    1. Jesús M. Carro & Elizaveta Pronkina, 2022. "The heterogeneous effects of the great recession on informal care to the elderly," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 355-367, December.
    2. Joan Costa-Font & Cristina Vilaplana-Prieto, 2023. "‘Investing’ in care for old age? An examination of long-term care expenditure dynamics and its spillovers," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 64(1), pages 1-30, January.
    3. Florentino Felgueroso & Angel de la Fuente & José E. Boscá & Joan Costa i Font & Rafael Doménech & Javier Ferri & José I. García Pérez & Sergi Jiménez & Diego Rodríguez & Analía Viola, 2020. "Aspectos económicos de la crisis del Covid-19. Boletín de seguimiento nº2," Studies on the Spanish Economy eee2020-14, FEDEA.
    4. Martin Eling & Omid Ghavibazoo, 2019. "Research on long-term care insurance: status quo and directions for future research," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan;The Geneva Association, vol. 44(2), pages 303-356, April.
    5. David Cantarero & Marta Pascual & Beatriz Rodríguez-Sánchez, 2022. "Differences in the Use of Formal and Informal Care Services among Older Adults after the Implementation of the Dependency Act in Spain," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 240(1), pages 61-93, March.
    6. Slawa Rokicki & Jessica Cohen & Gunther Fink & Joshua Salomon & Mary Beth Landrum, 2018. "Inference with difference-in-differences with a small number of groups: a review, simulation study and empirical application using SHARE data," CHaRMS Working Papers 18-01, Centre for HeAlth Research at the Management School (CHaRMS).
    7. Mommaerts, Corina & Truskinovsky, Yulya, 2020. "The cyclicality of informal care," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    8. Korfhage, Thorben, 2019. "Long-run consequences of informal elderly care and implications of public long-term care insurance," Ruhr Economic Papers 813, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    9. Sergi Jiménez-Martín & Analía Viola, 2020. "La asistencia residencial en España y COVID-19," Studies on the Spanish Economy eee2020-20, FEDEA.
    10. Eric Bonsang & Joan Costa-Font & Joan Costa-i-Font, 2023. "The “Demise of the Caregiving Daughter”? Gender Employment Gaps and the Use of Formal and Informal Care in Europe," CESifo Working Paper Series 10792, CESifo.
    11. 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).
    12. Raquel Marfil-Gómez & Marta Morales-Puerto & Álvaro León-Campos & José Miguel Morales-Asencio & Juan Carlos Morilla-Herrera & Eva Timonet-Andreu & Magdalena Cuevas-Fernández Gallego & Celia Martí-Garc, 2020. "Quality of Life, Physical and Mental Health of Family Caregivers of Dependent People with Complex Chronic Disease: Protocol of a Cohort Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-8, October.
    13. Nicola Ciccarelli & Arthur Soest, 2018. "Informal Caregiving, Employment Status and Work Hours of the 50+ Population in Europe," De Economist, Springer, vol. 166(3), pages 363-396, September.
    14. Walsh, Brendan & Lyons, Seán, 2021. "Demand for the Statutory Home Care Scheme," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number RS122, June.

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    JEL classification:

    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics

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