IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/hepoli/v119y2015i6p840-849.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A gap in formal long-term care use related to characteristics of caregivers and households, under the public universal system in Japan: 2001–2010

Author

Listed:
  • Tokunaga, Mutsumi
  • Hashimoto, Hideki
  • Tamiya, Nanako

Abstract

We investigated whether the universal provision of long-term care (LTC) under Japan's public system has equalized its use across households with different socio-economic characteristics, with a special focus on the gender and marital status of primary caregivers, and income. We used repeated cross-sectional data from national household surveys (2001, 2004, 2007, and 2010) and conducted multiple logistic regression analyses to obtain odds ratios of caregiver and household characteristics for service use, adjusting for recipients’ characteristics. The results showed that the patterns of service use have been consistently determined by caregivers’ gender and marital status over the period despite demographic changes among caregivers. The gap in service use first narrowed, then widened again across income levels after the global economic recession. The results indicate that the traditional gender-bound norms and capacity constraints on households’ informal care provision remained influential on decisions over service use, even after the universal provision of formal care. To improve equality of service utilization, the universal LTC system needs to meet diversifying needs of caregivers/recipients and their households, by overcoming barriers related to gender norms and economic disparity.

Suggested Citation

  • Tokunaga, Mutsumi & Hashimoto, Hideki & Tamiya, Nanako, 2015. "A gap in formal long-term care use related to characteristics of caregivers and households, under the public universal system in Japan: 2001–2010," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(6), pages 840-849.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:hepoli:v:119:y:2015:i:6:p:840-849
    DOI: 10.1016/j.healthpol.2014.10.015
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168851014002796
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.healthpol.2014.10.015?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hanaoka, Chie & Norton, Edward C., 2008. "Informal and formal care for elderly persons: How adult children's characteristics affect the use of formal care in Japan," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(6), pages 1002-1008, September.
    2. Lori D. Campbell & Anne Martin-Matthews, 2003. "The Gendered Nature of Men's Filial Care," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 58(6), pages 350-358.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Rong Fu & Haruko Noguchi, 2019. "Moral hazard under zero price policy: evidence from Japanese long-term care claims data," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 20(6), pages 785-799, August.
    2. Tami Saito & Naoki Kondo & Koichiro Shiba & Chiyoe Murata & Katsunori Kondo, 2018. "Income-based inequalities in caregiving time and depressive symptoms among older family caregivers under the Japanese long-term care insurance system: A cross-sectional analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(3), pages 1-13, March.
    3. Plaisier, Inger & Verbeek-Oudijk, Debbie & de Klerk, Mirjam, 2017. "Developments in home-care use. Policy and changing community-based care use by independent community-dwelling adults in the Netherlands," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(1), pages 82-89.
    4. Narimasa Kumagai, 2017. "Distinct impacts of high intensity caregiving on caregivers’ mental health and continuation of caregiving," Health Economics Review, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 1-14, December.
    5. Tokunaga, Mutsumi & Hashimoto, Hideki, 2017. "The socioeconomic within-gender gap in informal caregiving among middle-aged women: Evidence from a Japanese nationwide survey," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 48-53.
    6. María Lisseth Morales Aliaga & Tomoko Ito & Takehiro Sugiyama & Timothy Bolt & Nanako Tamiya, 2021. "Association between Having Cancer and Psychological Distress among Family Caregivers Using Three Years of a Nationwide Survey Data in Japan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(19), pages 1-11, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Norma B. Coe & Jing Guo & R. Tamara Konetzka & Courtney Harold Van Houtven, 2019. "What is the marginal benefit of payment‐induced family care? Impact on Medicaid spending and health of care recipients," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(5), pages 678-692, May.
    2. Noriko Morioka & Jun Tomio & Toshikazu Seto & Yoshie Yumoto & Yasuko Ogata & Yasuki Kobayashi, 2018. "Association between local-level resources for home care and home deaths: A nationwide spatial analysis in Japan," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(8), pages 1-13, August.
    3. Sugawara, Shinya & Nakamura, Jiro, 2014. "Can formal elderly care stimulate female labor supply? The Japanese experience," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 98-115.
    4. Yoko Niimi, 2016. "The “Costs” of informal care: an analysis of the impact of elderly care on caregivers’ subjective well-being in Japan," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 779-810, December.
    5. Niimi, Yoko & Horioka, Charles Yuji, 2019. "The wealth decumulation behavior of the retired elderly in Japan: The relative importance of precautionary saving and bequest motives," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 52-63.
    6. Michio Yuda & Jinkook Lee, 2016. "Effects of Informal Caregivers’ Health on Care Recipients," The Japanese Economic Review, Springer, vol. 67(2), pages 192-210, June.
    7. Yoko Niimi, 2018. "Does providing informal elderly care hasten retirement? Evidence from Japan," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(3), pages 1039-1062, August.
    8. Sumita, Kazuto & Nakazawa, Katsuyoshi & Kawase, Akihiro, 2021. "Long-term care facilities and migration of elderly households in an aged society: Empirical analysis based on micro data," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    9. David C. Grabowski & Edward C. Norton & Courtney H. Van Houtven, 2012. "Informal Care," Chapters, in: Andrew M. Jones (ed.), The Elgar Companion to Health Economics, Second Edition, chapter 30, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    10. Evelyn Korn & Matthias Wrede, 2012. "The effect of long term subsidies on female labor supply and fertility," MAGKS Papers on Economics 201243, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    11. Rapp, Thomas & Grand, Alain & Cantet, Christelle & Andrieu, Sandrine & Coley, Nicola & Portet, Florence & Vellas, Bruno, 2011. "Public financial support receipt and non-medical resource utilization in Alzheimer's disease results from the PLASA study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(8), pages 1310-1316, April.
    12. Julien Forder & Katerina Gousia & Eirini-Christina Saloniki, 2019. "The impact of long-term care on primary care doctor consultations for people over 75 years," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 20(3), pages 375-387, April.
    13. Narimasa Kumagai, 2017. "Distinct impacts of high intensity caregiving on caregivers’ mental health and continuation of caregiving," Health Economics Review, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 1-14, December.
    14. Matteo Lippi Bruni & Cristina Ugolini, 2016. "Delegating home care for the elderly to external caregivers? An empirical study on Italian data," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 155-183, March.
    15. Norton, E.C., 2016. "Health and Long-Term Care," Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, in: Piggott, John & Woodland, Alan (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Population Aging, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 951-989, Elsevier.
    16. Ayako Kondo, 2017. "Availability of Long-term Care Facilities and Middle-aged People's Labor Supply in Japan," Asian Economic Policy Review, Japan Center for Economic Research, vol. 12(1), pages 95-112, January.
    17. Ando Michihito & Furuichi Masato & Kaneko Yoshihiro, 2021. "Does universal long-term care insurance boost female labor force participation? Macro-level evidence," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 11(1), pages 1-50, May.
    18. Canta, Chiara & Pestieau, Pierre & Schoenmaeckers, Jérôme, 2021. "Blood and Gender Bias in Informal Care within the Family?," LIDAM Discussion Papers CORE 2021015, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    19. Torbica, Aleksandra & Calciolari, Stefano & Fattore, Giovanni, 2015. "Does informal care impact utilization of healthcare services? Evidence from a longitudinal study of stroke patients," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 29-38.
    20. Yi Wang & Jiajia Li & Nan Zhang & Lulu Ding & Yuejing Feng & Xue Tang & Long Sun & Chengchao Zhou, 2022. "Urban–Rural Disparities in Informal Care Intensity of Adult Daughters and Daughters-in-Law for Elderly Parents from 1993–2015: Evidence from a National Study in China," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 160(2), pages 487-503, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:hepoli:v:119:y:2015:i:6:p:840-849. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu or the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/healthpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.