Abstract
Care work encompasses a series of tasks of distinct social and economic importance; however, it has not been a traditional object of study in Economics. The main objective of this article is to analyze the factors that intervene in informal care work in Spain. To approach this, an econometric analysis will be conducted using the National Health Survey (ENS as its Spanish acronym) carried out by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE) of Spain. The results show that, in Spain, dependent adults do not receive the institutional support they need to perform basic daily activities. In fact, practically all of the care they receive is informal. This article will demonstrate that, within the household, women are responsible for informal care work whenever a family member is in need of such services. Our research shows that this is a consistent pattern regardless of the carer’s personal characteristics and level of education as well as the characteristics of the dependent adult living in the household. These findings reveal the necessity of reorienting public policies in order to help reduce gender inequalities caused by this socio-economic reality.
Highlights
This article analyses the provision of informal caregiving in Spain, identifying its main characteristics and attempting to shed light on relevant factors.Informal care, following the definition of Rogero-Garcia (2009), is provided by people within the social network of the recipient
This result is consistent with the results obtained through the Hosmwer and
Informal care in Spain is the most prevalent kind of care when it comes to dependents within the family
Summary
Informal care, following the definition of Rogero-Garcia (2009), is provided by people within the social network of the recipient. Eur. 32(1) 2019: 97-109 formal care is provided by public institutions and private companies Within formal care, it is worth noting what happened in the countries using the Mediterranean model of the Welfare State, among which the Spanish case is included. In these countries, families that can afford to do so hire immigrant women who offer these services, as the public sector does not satisfactorily cover care needs (Bettio, Simonazzi, & Villa, 2006)
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