Browsing by Subject "Caregiving"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Open Access
    Caring for carers? The effect of public subsidies on the well-being of unpaid carers
    (The University of Chicago Press, 2023-10-23) Costa-Font, Joan; D´Amico, Francesco; Vilaplana Prieto, Cristina; Fundamentos del Análisis Económico
    We study the effect of long-term care subsidies and supports on the well-being of unpaid caregivers. We draw on evidence from a policy intervention, which universalized previously means-tested caregiving supports in Scotland, known as free personal care (FPC). We document causal evidence of an increase in the well-being (happiness) of unpaid carers after the introduction of FPC. Our estimates suggest economically relevant improvements in happiness (12 percentage point increase in subjective well-being) among caregivers exposed to FPC and who provide at least 35 hours of care per week. Consistently, these results are larger among women and non-actively employed caregivers (17 percentage point increase in happiness). Estimates are not driven by selection into caregiving; they are explained by income effects of FPC among caregivers.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Embargo
    Do public caregiving subsidies and supports affect the provision of care and transfers?
    (Elsevier, 2022-05-25) Costa-Font, Joan; Jiménez-Martín, Sergi; Vilaplana Prieto, Cristina; Fundamentos del Análisis Económico
    We study whether caregiving and intergenerational transfer decisions are sensitive to changes in economic incentives following the inception of a new unconditional and universal system of allowances and supports, after the introduction of the 2006 Promotion of Personal Autonomy and Care for Dependent Persons Act (SAAD in Spanish), and the ensuing effects of its austerity cuts after 2012. We find that whilst the introduction of a caregiving allowance (of a maximum value of €530 in 2011) increased the supply of informal caregiving by 20-22 percentual points (pp), the inception of a companion system of publicly subsidised homecare supports did not modify the supply of care. Consistent with an exchange motive for intergenerational transfers, we estimate an average 17 pp (8.2-8.7pp) increase (decrease) in downstream (upstream) transfers among those receiving caregiving allowances. Our estimates resulting from the reduction in the allowances and supports after the austerity cuts in 2012 are consistent with our main estimates, and suggest stronguer effects among lower-income families.