The importance of the size of the social network and residential proximity in the reception of informal care in the European Union

ABSTRACT

This paper explores which factors affect the reception of informal care among those dependent people aged 65 and over in Europe, starting from the so-called Behavioural Model of Health Service Use introduced by Andersen. The data employed are drawn from the fourth wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement. The final sample consists of a total of 17,284 older dependent people of which 4529 (26.2%) received informal care. The main novelty is the incorporation of different characteristics of the social network of the individual (presence of children, size and residential proximity) among the factors that enable the reception of informal care. In particular the two latter aspects are combined in one sole indicator of distance to the social network. In addition to ‘traditional factors’ like age or degree of dependency, all the characteristics of the social network are found to influence the likelihood of receiving informal care. This reveals the need for taking into consideration the role played by social networks when governments design care programmes, especially in the current scenario of rising demand for care.

RESUMEN

Este trabajo explora los factores que afectan a la recepción de cuidados informales entre los mayores de 65 años en Europa partiendo del conocido ‘Modelo de comportamiento en el uso de servicios sanitarios’ introducido por Andersen. Los datos empleados proceden de la cuarta oleada de la encuesta SHARE. La muestra final se compone de un total de 17,284 mayores dependientes de los que 4,529 (26.2%) recibieron cuidados informales. La principal novedad es la incorporación de diferentes características de la red social de los individuos (presencia de hijos, tamaño y proximidad residencial) entre los factores que facilitan la recepción de cuidados informales. En particular los dos últimos aspectos se combinan en un único indicador de distancia a la red social. Junto con ‘factores tradicionales’ como la edad o el grado dependencia, todas las características de la red social influyen sobre la probabilidad de recibir cuidados informales. Esto muestra que es necesario tener en consideración el papel que juegan las redes sociales cuando los gobiernos diseñan los programas de cuidados, especialmente en el actual escenario de demanda creciente de cuidados.

KEYWORDS:

• Informal care
• social network
• distance

PALABRAS CLAVE:

• cuidados informales
• red social
• distancia

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Mercedes Rodríguez is Lecturer at the Department of International and Spanish Economics and researcher at the Institute of Regional Development of the University of Granada. Her main research interests include services, both business services and social-related services. She has participated in several national and regional projects on dependency and published, among others, in European Journal of Public Health, Service Business and Economics of Innovation and New Technology.

M. Ángeles Minguela Recover is Assistant Professor at the Department of Labour Law of the University of Cadiz and researcher at the Institute of Regional Development of the University of Granada. Her research interests include care and dependent older people. Her works on this issue have been published in Spanish journals like Cuadernos Geográficos or Cuadernos de Relaciones Laborales.

José A. Camacho Ballesta is Professor at the Department of International and Spanish Economics and director of the Institute of Regional Development of the University of Granada. His present research interests cover the role of services, in particular, knowledge-based and social-related services on welfare and development. He has directed several national and regional projects on dependency and published papers, among others, in The Service Industries Journal, Regional and Sectoral Economic Studies, Waste management, Post-Communist Economies or European and Planning Studies.

ORCID

Mercedes Rodríguez http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0524-7737

José A. Camacho Ballesta http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9786-5400