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Blood and gender bias in informal care within the family

Author

Listed:
  • Chiara Canta

    (TBS Business School)

  • Pierre Pestieau

    (HEC-Liege (University of Liege)
    Paris School of Economics)

  • Jérôme Schoenmaeckers

    (HEC-Liege (University of Liege))

Abstract

This paper deals with the question of the relative contribution of spouses to the long-term care (LTC) needs of their dependent parents and parents in-law. Starting from a theoretical model and using SHARE data, the paper focuses on the role of gender and blood relationships as well as the effect of differential opportunity costs within the couple. The results tend to confirm the existence of gender and blood biases in the level of informal care provided by each spouse, while their wage does not seem to play a large role. When we consider the relative level of informal care by spouses, the gender and blood biases are confirmed. Furthermore, the wage ratio is negatively related to the informal care ratio. These results imply that informal care and private insurance coverage may depend on the gender composition of children, which may justify differentiated public LTC transfers.

Suggested Citation

  • Chiara Canta & Pierre Pestieau & Jérôme Schoenmaeckers, 2024. "Blood and gender bias in informal care within the family," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 595-631, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:reveho:v:22:y:2024:i:2:d:10.1007_s11150-023-09669-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s11150-023-09669-3
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Informal long-term care; Couple decision-making; Altruism;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior
    • D6 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics
    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • H31 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Household

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