Shadow and extended shadow cost sharing associated to informal long-term care: the case of Spain

Background: A large part of the long-term care is provided by non-rofessional caregivers, generally without any monetary payment but a value economic of time invested. The economic relevance of informal caregivers has been recognized in Spain; however, public provision may still be scarce. The objec...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Pozo Rubio, Raúl del, Moya Martínez, Pablo, Ortega Ortega, Marta, Oliva Moreno, Juan
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2020
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha
Repositorio:RUIdeRA. Repositorio Institucional de la UCLM
OAI Identifier:oai:ruidera.uclm.es:10578/25140
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10578/25140
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Informal care
Economic value
Long-term care
Spain
Descripción
Sumario:Background: A large part of the long-term care is provided by non-rofessional caregivers, generally without any monetary payment but a value economic of time invested. The economic relevance of informal caregivers has been recognized in Spain; however, public provision may still be scarce. The objective of this paper is to estimate the economic burden associated with informal long-term care that should assume the families through a new concept of cost sharing that consider opportunity costs of time provided by informal caregivers. Methods: The study sample includes all dependent adults in Spain. Socioeconomic information and the number of hours of informal care was collected through the Spanish Disability and Dependency Survey. The terms of shadow and extended shadow cost sharing were defined as the difference between the maximum potential amount of money that families could receive for the provision of informal care and the amount that actually they received and the value of informal care time with respect to the amount received, respectively. Results: 53.87% of dependent persons received an economic benefit associated to informal care. The average weekly hours of care were 71.59 (92.62 without time restrictions). Shadow cost sharing amounted to, on average, two thirds, whereas the State financed the remaining third. In terms of extended shadow cost sharing, the State financed between 3% and 10% of informal care provided by caregivers. Conclusions: This study reveals the deficient support received for the provision of informal care in Spain. More than 90% of informal care time is not covered by the economic benefits that families receive from the State.