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Informal Care Motivations and Intergenerational Transfers in European Countries

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  • Sergi Jiménez‐Martín
  • Cristina Vilaplana Prieto

Abstract

This work sets out to analyze the motivations adult children may have to provide informal care, considering the monetary transfers they receive from their parents. Traditional motivations, such as altruism and exchange, are matched against more recent social bond theories. Our findings indicate that informal caregivers receive less frequent and less generous transfers than non‐caregivers; that is, caregivers are more prone to suppress their self‐interested motivations in order to prioritize the well being of another person. Additionally, long‐term public care benefits increase both the probability of receiving a transfer and its amount, with this effect being more intense for both the poorest and richest households. Our findings suggest that if long‐term care benefits are intended to increase the recipients' welfare and represent a higher fraction of total income for the poorest households, the effectiveness of these long‐term care policies may be diluted. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Suggested Citation

  • Sergi Jiménez‐Martín & Cristina Vilaplana Prieto, 2015. "Informal Care Motivations and Intergenerational Transfers in European Countries," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(S1), pages 89-103, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:24:y:2015:i:s1:p:89-103
    DOI: 10.1002/hec.3135
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    Cited by:

    1. Fernanda Mazzotta & Lavinia Parisi, 2020. "Money and time: what would you give back to me? Reciprocity between children and their elderly parents in Europe," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 37(3), pages 941-969, October.
    2. Emanuele Ciani & Claudio Deiana, 2016. "No Free Lunch, Buddy: Housing Transfers and Informal Care Later in Life," Center for the Analysis of Public Policies (CAPP) 0134, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi".
    3. Aviad Tur-Sinai & Noah Lewin-Epstein, 2020. "Transitions in Giving and Receiving Intergenerational Financial Support in Middle and Old Age," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 150(3), pages 765-791, August.
    4. Emanuele Ciani & Claudio Deiana, 2018. "No free lunch, buddy: past housing transfers and informal care later in life," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 971-1001, December.
    5. Lea de Jong & Torben Schmidt & Jona Theodor Stahmeyer & Sveja Eberhard & Jan Zeidler & Kathrin Damm, 2023. "Willingness to provide informal care to older adults in Germany: a discrete choice experiment," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 24(3), pages 425-436, April.
    6. Eliza Lai-Yi Wong & Jennifer Mengwei Liao & Christopher Etherton-Beer & Loretta Baldassar & Gary Cheung & Claire Margaret Dale & Elisabeth Flo & Bettina Sandgathe Husebø & Roy Lay-Yee & Adele Millard , 2020. "Scoping Review: Intergenerational Resource Transfer and Possible Enabling Factors," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-22, October.

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