“I Can Be Liberated Now”:The Impact of Long-Term Care Insurance in China on Spouses’ Care Burden

Long-term care insurance (LTCI) serves as a pivotal policy instrument in addressing long-term care needs globally, yet its impact on spousal caregiver's burdens remains underexplored. This study investigates China's LTCI pilot policy, focusing on its influence on co-residential spousal caregivers. Using data from four periods of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) spanning 2011-2018, LTCI pilots are employed as a natural experiment to evaluate changes in caregivers' emotional, physical, and social burdens. The quantitative results indicate that LTCI significantly reduces emotional and physical health burdens among spousal caregivers of people with disabilities in China, along limited effect on social burdens. Heterogeneity tests reveal that LTCI's effects are most pronounced in rural areas and among spouses with lower education levels. These findings underscore the need for policy refinements targeting spousal caregivers, with particular emphasis on socioeconomically disadvantaged groups.