The effect of public home-care expenditure on unpaid caring: differences between the over-50s in work and not in work

This study examines the relationship between public expenditure on professional home care and unpaid caring by the over-50s in Europe, and whether this relationship differs between working and non-working populations. We use Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe data from eight European countries merged with Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development data on home-care expenditure in 2004, 2007, 2011 and 2013. Using logistic regressions with fixed effects, our findings provide evidence that rising expenditure is associated with lower probabilities of (regular) unpaid caring by the over-50s, but only among those not in work. The consequences of the increasing emphasis on unpaid caring, especially combined with paid work, should be studied further.