Measuring Care Provision in the United States: Resources, Shortfalls, and Possible Improvements

Understanding care provision requires a holistic approach with attention to care needs and responsibilities, transfers of time and money to meet care needs, access to services and supports, care service quality, and paid and unpaid caregivers’ well-being. Existing data sources typically focus on one specific site of care provision or one form of care, making it challenging to see interconnections important to the bigger picture. Overall, the current data infrastructure makes it very difficult, if not impossible, to answer fundamental questions about the size of the care sector, the distribution of the costs and benefits of care provision, or the extent of unmet care needs. This working paper takes a step toward addressing this problem. It provides an overview of empirical research, identifies strengths, weaknesses, and gaps in existing data resources, and considers possible improvements and synergies.