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Informal and formal home-care use among older adults in Europe: can cross-national differences be explained by societal context and composition?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2011

BIANCA SUANET ,
MARJOLEIN BROESE VAN GROENOU  and
THEO VAN TILBURG
BIANCA SUANET*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
MARJOLEIN BROESE VAN GROENOU
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
THEO VAN TILBURG
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
*
Address for correspondence: Bianca Suanet, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1081, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands. E-mail: b.a.suanet@vu.nl
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Abstract

Cross-national comparisons employed welfare state classifications to explain differences in care use in the European older population. Yet these classifications do not cover all care-related societal characteristics and limit our understanding of which specific societal characteristics are most important. Using the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement (second wave, 2006–07), the effect of societal determinants relating to culture, welfare state context and socio-economic and demographic composition on informal and formal care use of older adults in 11 European countries was studied. Multinomial multi-level regression analyses showed that, in addition to individual determinants, societal determinants are salient for understanding care use. In countries with fewer home-based services, less residential care, more informal care support and women working full time, older adults are more likely to receive informal care only. Older adults are more likely to receive only formal home care or a combination of formal and informal care in countries with more extensive welfare state arrangements (i.e. more home-based services, higher pension generosity), whereas the odds of receiving a combination of informal and formal care are also larger in countries that specify a legal obligation to care for parents. We tentatively conclude that the incorporation of societal determinants rather than commonly used welfare state classifications results in more understanding of the societal conditions that determine older adults’ care use.

Keywords

informal and formal care usecross-national comparisonwelfare stateculturedemographic composition
Type
Articles
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 32 , Issue 3 , April 2012 , pp. 491 - 515
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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