Dependent, Poorer, and More Care-Demanding? An Analysis of the Relationship between Being Dependent, Household Income, and Formal and Informal Care Use in Spain

Abstract

Population ageing is one of the current challenges that most societies are facing, with great implications for health systems and social services, including long-term care. This increasing long-term care use is particularly rising for dependent older people, motivating the implementation of regional dependency laws to ensure their care needs’ coverage. Using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) from the year 2004 until 2017, the aim of this study is to assess the impact that the Spanish System for Personal Autonomy and Dependency might have on (i) household income, according to different needs for care levels, by running Generalized Linear Models (GLMs); and (ii) formal and informal care use depending on the income-related determinant through the performance of logit random-effects regression models. We show that the different degrees of needs for personal care are associated with a lower household income, being associated with an income reduction from €3300 to nearly €3800, depending on the covariates included, per year for the more severely in-need-for-care older adults. Moreover, our findings point towards a higher use of formal and informal care services by the moderate and severe dependents groups, regardless of the household income group and time period. Bearing in mind the demographic ageing, our results highlight the need for the identification of potentially vulnerable populations and the efficient planification of long-term care systems and social support services.

Older People’s Long-Term Care Preferences in China: The Impact of Living with Grandchildren on Older People’s Willingness and Family Decisions

“…Accordingly, our first aim was to determine the institutional care preferences of older people. In recent decades, choices for informal care have led to a low demand for formal care in China, especially for people with functional limitations [12]. On the one hand, evidence has suggested that the family home is not always the best place for eldercare because of scarce supportive resources, the lack of suitable informal caregivers, and the possibility of financial, verbal, and even physical abuse [13].…”

Impact of Socioeconomic Environment on Home Social Care Service Demand and Dependent Users

“…In addition, we note that the average service hours (per PC or HH) per user vary significantly between CSS zones ( Figure A3 and Figure A4 ). These differences could be related to socioeconomic factors, as pointed out by previous research [ 36 , 38 ].…”

“…This study explored which sociodemographic features may influence this phenomenon. Previous research has pointed out features that have an impact on the demand for social services [ 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 ]. Therefore, we analyzed demographic and economic data divided geographically by CSS coverage area.…”

“…According to previous studies, in urban contexts, there are social inequalities and territorial segregations [ 40 ] that may influence home care demands [ 41 ]. In some contexts, the socioeconomic characteristics of the population are associated with the provision of care services [ 36 , 38 ]. A recent study highlighted that care strategies for older dependents are determined by individuals, network characteristics, as well as contextual factors [ 35 ].…”