IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/pharme/v37y2019i4d10.1007_s40273-019-00784-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Economic Spillover Effects of Intensive Unpaid Caregiving

Author

Listed:
  • Josephine C. Jacobs

    (Palo Alto Veterans Health Administration)

  • Courtney H. Van Houtven

    (Duke University)

  • Terri Tanielian

    (RAND Corporation)

  • Rajeev Ramchand

    (RAND Corporation)

Abstract

Background Growing evidence has documented economic spillover effects experienced by intensive caregivers across the lifecycle. These spillover effects are rarely incorporated in economic analyses of health interventions. When these costs are captured, it is shown that commonly applied methods for valuing caregiver time may be underestimating the true opportunity costs of informal care. We explore how intensive caregiving is associated with economic outcomes for caregivers aged 18 years and older. Methods We used the cross-sectional 2013 RAND Survey of Military and Veteran Caregivers, a survey of 3876 caregivers and non-caregivers aged 18 years and older to conduct multivariable analyses and calculate average marginal effects, focusing on the association between intensive caregiving (i.e., providing ≥ 20 h of weekly care) and six economic outcomes: schooling, labor force participation, taking unpaid time off of work, cutting back work hours, quitting a job, and early retirement. Results Intensive caregivers are 13 percentage points (95% confidence interval [CI] 8–18) less likely to be employed than non-caregivers. Intensive caregivers are 3 percentage points (95% CI 0.5–5) more likely to cut back schooling, 6 percentage points (95% CI 2–10) more likely to take unpaid time off of work, 4 percentage points (95% CI 0.1–9) more likely to cut back work hours, 12 percentage points (95% CI 8–15) more likely to quit a job, and 5 percentage points (95% CI 2–7) more likely to retire early due to caregiving responsibilities relative to non-intensive caregivers. Conclusions Despite the difficulty of quantifying the true opportunity costs of informal care, policy makers and researchers need to understand these costs. The higher the opportunity costs of unpaid care provision, the less likely it is that caregivers will provide this care and the less economically attractive this ‘free’ source of care is from a societal perspective.

Suggested Citation

  • Josephine C. Jacobs & Courtney H. Van Houtven & Terri Tanielian & Rajeev Ramchand, 2019. "Economic Spillover Effects of Intensive Unpaid Caregiving," PharmacoEconomics, Springer, vol. 37(4), pages 553-562, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:pharme:v:37:y:2019:i:4:d:10.1007_s40273-019-00784-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s40273-019-00784-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s40273-019-00784-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s40273-019-00784-7?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. Berecki-Gisolf, Janneke & Lucke, Jayne & Hockey, Richard & Dobson, Annette, 2008. "Transitions into informal caregiving and out of paid employment of women in their 50s," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 122-127, July.
    2. Sean Fahle & Kathleen McGarry, 2017. "Caregiving and Work: The Relationship between Labor Market Attachment and Parental Caregiving," Working Papers wp356, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center.
    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. David McDaid & A-La Park, 2022. "Understanding the Economic Value and Impacts on Informal Carers of People Living with Mental Health Conditions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-15, March.
    2. Xinyan Wei & Ying Liu & Yang Liu, 2023. "Study on the Impact of Internet Usage, Aging on Farm Household Income," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-16, September.
    3. María J. Mendoza-Jiménez & Job Exel & Werner Brouwer, 2024. "On spillovers in economic evaluations: definition, mapping review and research agenda," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 25(7), pages 1239-1260, September.
    4. Huamin Chai & Rui Fu & Peter C. Coyte, 2021. "Does Unpaid Caregiving Erode Working Hours Among Middle-Aged Chinese Adults?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 157(3), pages 977-999, October.
    5. Huamin Chai & Rui Fu & Peter C. Coyte, 2021. "Unpaid Caregiving and Labor Force Participation among Chinese Middle-Aged Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-25, January.
    6. Zhang, Wei & Sun, Huiying & L'Heureux, Jacynthe, 2021. "Substitutes or complements between informal and formal home care in the Canadian longitudinal study on aging: Functional impairment as an effect modifier," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(9), pages 1267-1275.
    7. Lisa A. Prosser & Eve Wittenberg, 2019. "Advances in Methods and Novel Applications for Measuring Family Spillover Effects of Illness," PharmacoEconomics, Springer, vol. 37(4), pages 447-450, April.
    8. McDaid, David & Park, A-La, 2022. "Understanding the economic value and impacts on informal carers of people living with mental health conditions," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 114272, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. Luz María Peña-Longobardo & Isaac Aranda-Reneo & Juan Oliva-Moreno & Svenja Litzkendorf & Isabelle Durand-Zaleski & Eduardo Tizzano & Julio López-Bastida, 2020. "The Economic Impact and Health-Related Quality of Life of Spinal Muscular Atrophy. An Analysis across Europe," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(16), pages 1-12, August.

    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. Heger, Dörte & Korfhage, Thorben, 2017. "Does the negative effect of caregiving on work persist over time?," Ruhr Economic Papers 703, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    2. Stampini, Marco & Oliveri, María Laura & Ibarrarán, Pablo & Londoño, Diana & Rhee, Ho June (Sean) & James, Gillinda M., 2020. "Working Less to Take Care of Parents? Labor Market Effects of Family Long-Term Care in Four Latin American Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 13792, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Mark L. Bryan, 2012. "Access to Flexible Working and Informal Care," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 59(4), pages 361-389, September.
    4. Ha Trong Nguyen & Luke B. Connelly, 2017. "The Dynamics of Informal Care Provision in an Australian Household Panel Survey: Previous Work Characteristics and Future Care Provision," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 93(302), pages 395-419, September.
    5. Nguyen, Ha Trong & Connelly, Luke Brian, 2014. "The effect of unpaid caregiving intensity on labour force participation: Results from a multinomial endogenous treatment model," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 115-122.
    6. Brenna, Elenka, 2021. "Should I care for my mum or for my kid? Sandwich generation and depression burden in Italy," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(3), pages 415-423.
    7. Mommaerts, Corina & Truskinovsky, Yulya, 2020. "The cyclicality of informal care," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    8. Roméo Fontaine, 2009. "Aider un parent âgé se fait-il au détriment de l'emploi ?," Post-Print hal-01427383, HAL.
    9. 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.
    10. Zeng‐Hua Lu & Alec Zuo, 2010. "Effects Of A Child'S Disability On Affected Female'S Labour Supply In Australia," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(3), pages 222-240, September.
    11. Costa-Font, Joan & Vilaplana-Prieto, Cristina, 2023. "Caregiving subsidies and spousal early retirement intentions," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22(4), pages 550-589, October.
    12. Geyer, J.; Korfhage, T.;, 2017. "Long-term care reform and the labor supply of informal caregivers – evidence from a quasi-experiment," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 17/20, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    13. Catherine Pollak & Nicolas Sirven, 2011. "The social economy of ageing : Job quality and pathways beyond the labour market in Europe," Post-Print halshs-00639928, HAL.
    14. repec:dau:papers:123456789/9523 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Ulrike Ehrlich, 2023. "The Association between Family Care and Paid Work among Women in Germany: Does the Household Economic Context Matter?," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 37(1), pages 117-136, February.
    16. Fischer, Björn & Müller, Kai-Uwe, 2020. "Time to care? The effects of retirement on informal care provision," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    17. Jacobs, Josephine C. & Van Houtven, Courtney H. & Laporte, Audrey & Coyte, Peter C., 2015. "Baby Boomer caregivers in the workforce: Do they fare better or worse than their predecessors?," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 6(C), pages 89-101.
    18. Madia, Joan E. & Moscone, Francesco & Nicodemo, Catia, 2023. "Studying informal care during the pandemic: mental health, gender and job status," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    19. Marie Blaise & Sandrine Juin & Hélène Le Forner & Quitterie Roquebert, 2024. "I care, you clean? Gendered effects of informal care on couple housework and leisure time," LISER Working Paper Series 2024-05, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER).
    20. Koen Caminada & Kees Goudswaard & Qingqi Liu & Chen Wang & Jinxian Wang, 2024. "Determinants of Elderly Poverty in 21 European Countries, 1995-2022," LIS Working papers 882, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    21. Sandrine Juin, 2016. "Care for dependent elderly people : dealing with health and financing issues," Erudite Ph.D Dissertations, Erudite, number ph16-02 edited by Thomas Barnay.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:spr:pharme:v:37:y:2019:i:4:d:10.1007_s40273-019-00784-7. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.