The Influence of Spouse Ability to Provide Informal Care on Long-Term Care Use

27 Pages Posted: 13 Mar 2014

See all articles by Pieter Bakx

Pieter Bakx

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR)

Claudine de Meijer

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Erasmus Medical Center (MC)

Date Written: April 13, 2013

Abstract

Objective: Informal care substitutes for or postpones formal long-term care (LTC) use, especially in the Netherlands, where informal care supply affects eligibility for public LTC. The effect of potential informal care supply within the household has received less attention. We examine the role of spouse’s physical ability to provide informal care in explaining LTC use and transitions.

Method: We used Dutch respondents from waves 1 and 2 of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. A mixed multinomial logit regression is used to model the choice between no LTC use, informal LTC use only, and formal LTC use. Transitions into formal care use are modeled with a logit regression.

Results: Spouse ability affects LTC use but living alone remains important after controlling for spouse ability. Other important determinants of use are having a child , age, disability and health status. Transitions are explained by informal care supply and changes therein, health and disability and the respondent’s age.

Discussion: Spouse ability to provide informal care reduces use of formal LTC, which implies that future compression of morbidity/disability and its impact would lower demand for LTC, directly and through increased spouse ability to provide informal care.

Keywords: aging, long-term care, informal care, disability

JEL Classification: I11, J14

Suggested Citation

Bakx, Pieter and de Meijer, Claudine, The Influence of Spouse Ability to Provide Informal Care on Long-Term Care Use (April 13, 2013). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2407926 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2407926

Pieter Bakx (Contact Author)

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) ( email )

Zuid-Holland
Netherlands

Claudine De Meijer

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) - Erasmus Medical Center (MC) ( email )

Doctor Molewaterplein 40
Rotterdam, South Holland 3015 GD
Netherlands

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