IN-CARE How are varying care systems associated with inequalities in care and wellbeing in later life?
Final Report Abstract
In this international project funded by the DFG under the fifth round of ORA, our team focused on analysing socio-economic inequalities among informal caregivers in Europe. We investigated whether informal care disproportionately affects disadvantaged populations and what the consequences are for the wellbeing of carers and care receivers according to socioeconomic status (SES) and care policy context. Consistent with theory, we found together with the Dutch team that informal care provision depends on SES. The lower education, income and wealth, the more likely informal care was provided. Additionally, contextual factors influenced the likelihood of providing informal care. The lower the social expenditure and the higher the social inequality of a country, the higher the proportion of informal caregivers. In our study on the impact of informal caregiving on wellbeing according to SES, we confirmed both the positive relationship between high SES and wellbeing and the negative relationship between informal caregiving and wellbeing. However, contrary to our expectations, no socioeconomic gradient was found with regard to the links between care and wellbeing. Informal caregiving seems to have negative effects on wellbeing across groups. Still wellbeing is higher with higher SES and caregiving less likely in higher SES groups. Together with the English team, we then investigated different partnership care arrangements and assessed their relationship with wellbeing in different care regimes. This revealed inequalities to the disadvantage of women particularly in Southern Europe, especially if they did not provide care for their partner themselves but outsourced to an informal caregiver. Different gendered role expectations could explain this finding, providing an interesting basis for further investigation. Throughout the project, we maintained a vigorous exchange with our international project partners. In addition, we sought dialogue with representatives from science, politics, and society at stakeholder meetings at the beginning and end of the project and presented our results at various (inter)national conferences. The fruitful cooperation with our international project partners is reflected not least in six peer-reviewed articles in internationally renowned high quality journals.
Publications
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Partner Care Arrangements and Well-Being in Mid-and Later Life: The Role of Gender Across Care Contexts. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 77(2), 435-445.
Floridi, Ginevra; Quashie, Nekehia T.; Glaser, Karen & Brandt, Martina
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Socioeconomic differences in informal caregiving in Europe. European Journal of Ageing, 19(3), 621-632.
Quashie, Nekehia T.; Wagner, Melanie; Verbakel, Ellen & Deindl, Christian
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Socioeconomic inequalities in the wellbeing of informal caregivers across Europe. Aging & Mental Health, 26(8), 1589-1596.
Brandt, Martina; Kaschowitz, Judith & Quashie, Nekehia T.
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Indicators of familialism and defamilialization in long-term care: A theoretical overview and introduction of macro-level indicators. Journal of European Social Policy, 33(1), 34-51.
Verbakel, Ellen; Glaser, Karen; Amzour, Yasmina; Brandt, Martina & van, Groenou Marjolein Broese
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Social inequalities and the wellbeing of family caregivers across European care regimes. Journal of Family Research, 35, 181-195.
Brandt, Martina; Deindl, Christian; Floridi, Ginevra; Heidemann, Robert; Kaschowitz, Judith; Quashie, Nekehia; Verbakel, Ellen & Wagner, Melanie
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Wealth inequalities in physical and cognitive impairments across Japan and Europe: the role of health expenditure and infrastructure. International Journal for Equity in Health, 22(1).
Le Dung, D.; Quashie, Nekehia T.; Brandt, Martina & Ibuka, Yoko
