Formal Care of the Elderly and Health Outcomes Among Adult Daughters

Signe A. Abrahamsen () and Maja Weemes Grøtting ()
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Signe A. Abrahamsen: University of Bergen, Department of Economics, Postal: Institutt for økonomi, Universitetet i Bergen, Postboks 7802, 5020 Bergen, Norway
Maja Weemes Grøtting: Norwegian Social Research, Oslo Metropolitan University, Postal: Oslo Metropolitan University, Stensberggata 26, 0170 Oslo, Norway

No 2/19, Working Papers in Economics from University of Bergen, Department of Economics

Abstract: Health-care expenditures and the demand for caregiving are increasing concerns for policy makers. Although informal care to a certain extent may substitute for costly formal care, providing informal care may come at a cost to caregivers in terms of their own health. However, evidence of causal effects of care responsibilities on health is limited, especially for long-term outcomes. In this paper, we estimate long-term effects of a formal care expansion for the elderly on the health of their middle-aged daughters. We exploit a reform in the federal funding of formal care for Norwegian municipalities that caused a greater expansion of home care provision in municipalities that initially had lower coverage rates. We find that expanding formal care reduced sickness absence in the short run, primarily due to reduced absences related to musculoskeletal and psychological disorders. In general, we find no effects on long-term health outcomes.

Keywords: Formal and informal eldercare; sickness absence; health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I10 J14 J22 J38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 55 pages
Date: 2019-01-25
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-age, nep-dem, nep-eur, nep-hea, nep-ias and nep-ltv
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hhs:bergec:2019_002

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