Socio-economic inequality in long-term care

A comparison of three time periods in the Netherlands

Datos Bibliográficos

ID11201427
AutoresJens Abbing (0000-0003-0236-6156, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, autor de correspondencia), Bianca Suanet (0000-0002-5289-3176, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), Marjolein I Broese Van Groenou (0000-0002-9764-0092, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)
Año2023
Volumen43
Número3
Páginas643-663
Fecha de publicación2023-03-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAgeing and Society (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0144-686X • E-ISSN: 1469-1779
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0144686x21000647
OpenAlexW3179743671
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas3
Referencias citadas35

As a result of the rapid ageing of societies, meeting the demands for long-term care has become increasingly difficult. In the Netherlands, informal care is recognised as a key element to compensate for cut-backs in formal care provision. Formal, informal and privately paid long-term care services, however, are not used equally across socio-economic status (SES) groups and whether these inequalities have been reduced or exacerbated over time has not been researched. This study investigates to what extent educational and income inequalities in the use of formal, informal and privately paid care have changed over time. Data from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA) was used from three points in time: 1995 (N = 787), 2005 (N = 550) and 2015 (N = 473). Participants were between 75 and 85 years of age and living independently. The results indicate that lower SES groups are consistently more likely to use formal and informal care, and less likely to use privately paid care compared to higher SES groups. An increase in inequality was only found in the use of informal care; while informal care use is stable among lower SES groups, it decreases steeply among higher SES groups. These findings highlight the importance of education for explaining variation and changes over time in care use. Governmental efforts to mobilise informal care-givers might be outweighed by trends towards less long-term care

Care work · Demographic economics · Economics · Inequality · Long-term care · Term (time) · Work (physics) · Health disparities and outcomes · Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving · Medicine · Migration, Aging, and Tourism Studies · Nursing