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Long-run consequences of informal elderly care and implications of public long-term care insurance

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  • Korfhage, Thorben
  • Fischer-Weckemann, Björn

Abstract

We estimate a dynamic structural model of labor supply, retirement, and informal caregiving to study short and long-term costs of informal caregiving in Germany. Incorporating labor market frictions and the German tax and benefit system, we find that in the absence of Germany’s public long-term insurance scheme, informal elderly care has adverse and persistent effects on labor market outcomes and, thus, negatively affects lifetime earnings and future pension benefits. These consequences of caregiving are heterogeneous and depend on age, previous earnings, and institutional regulations. Policy simulations suggest that while public long-term care insurance policies are fiscally costly and induce negative labor market effects, they can largely offset the personal costs of caregiving and increase welfare, especially for low-income individuals.

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  • Korfhage, Thorben & Fischer-Weckemann, Björn, 2024. "Long-run consequences of informal elderly care and implications of public long-term care insurance," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:96:y:2024:i:c:s0167629624000298
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2024.102884
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Long-term care; Informal care; Long-term care insurance; Labor supply; Retirement; Pension benefits; Dynamic structural model;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J26 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Retirement; Retirement Policies

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