The fiscal impact of informal caregiving to home care recipients in Canada: How the intensity of care influences costs and benefits to government

Social Science and Medicine

Volumn 81, Issue , 2013, Pages 102-109

  Jacobs, Josephine C ^a   Lilly, Meredith B ^b   Ng, Carita ^a   Coyte, Peter C ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO   (Canada)

^b MCMASTER UNIVERSITY   (Canada)

Author keywords

Benefit; Canada; Cost; Employment; Home care; Informal care; Public; Unpaid caregiving

Indexed keywords

COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS; ECONOMIC IMPACT; EMPLOYMENT; HEALTH CARE; INFORMAL SECTOR; LABOR PARTICIPATION; TAX SYSTEM;

ADULT; ARTICLE; CANADA; CANADIAN; CAREGIVER; COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS; CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY; EMPLOYMENT; ETHNIC GROUP; FEMALE; GOVERNMENT; HEALTH CARE COST; HOME CARE; HUMAN; MALE; PROBABILITY; RECIPIENT; SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS; SOCIAL PARTICIPATION; TAX; WORKING TIME;

CANADA; CAREGIVERS; COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS; CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDIES; EMPLOYMENT; FEDERAL GOVERNMENT; FEMALE; HOME NURSING; HUMANS; INCOME TAX; MALE; MIDDLE AGED; SOCIAL WELFARE; TIME FACTORS;

CANADA;

EID: 84874290669     PISSN: 02779536     EISSN: 18735347     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2012.12.015     Document Type: Article

References (25)

1. Barrett L. Healthy at home 2008, AARP Foundation, Washington DC.
2. Berecki-Gisolf G., Lucke J., Hockey R., Dobson A. Transitions into informal caregiving and out of paid employment of women in their 50s. Social Science & Medicine 2008, 67(1):122-127.
3. Bolin K., Lindgren B., Lundborg P. Informal and formal care among single-living elderly in Europe. Health Economics 2008, 17(3):393-409.
4. Bonsang E. Does informal care from children to their elderly parents substitute for formal care in Europe?. Journal of Health Economics 2009, 28(1):143-154.
5. Canadian Agency for Drugs the Technologies in Health Guidelines for the economic evaluation of health technologies: Canada 2006, Available at, Accessed 29.12.11. http://cadth.ca/media/pdf/186_EconomicGuidelines_e.pdf.
6. Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) Supporting informal caregivers - The heart of home care 2010, August 2010 health system performance analysis in brief, Available at, Accessed 28.05.11. https://secure.cihi.ca/free_products/Caregiver_Distress_AIB_2010_EN.pdf.
7. Carmichael F., Charles S. Benefit payments, informal care and female labour supply. Applied Economic Letters 2003, 10(7):411-415.
8. Charles K.K., Sevak P. Can family caregiving substitute for nursing home care?. Journal of Health Economics 2005, 24(6):1174-1190.
9. Crespo L. Caring for parents and employment status of European mid-life women 2007, Working paper no. 0615, Centre for Monetary and Financial Studies.
10. Drinkwater S. Informal caregiving and labour market outcomes within England and Wales 2011, Discussion paper no. 5877, Institute for the Study of Labor.
11. Earle A., Heymanne J. Protecting the health of employees caring for family members with special health care needs. Social Science & Medicine 2011, 73(1):68-78.
12. Hassink W.H.J., Van den Berg B. Time-bound opportunity costs of informal care: consequences for access to professional care, caregivers support, and labour supply estimates. Social Science & Medicine 2011, 73(10):1508-1516.
13. Heckman J. Shadow prices, market wages, and labor supply. Econometrica 1974, 42(4):679-694.
14. Heitmueller A. The chicken or the egg? Endogeneity in labour market participation of informal carers in England. Journal of Health Economics 2007, 26(3):536-559.
15. Hollander M., Chappell N. Final report on the national evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of home care 2002, National Evaluation of the Cost-Effectiveness of Home Care, Victoria.
16. Hollander M., Liu G., Chappell N. Unpaid care givers in Canada: Replacement cost estimates 2008, Available at, Accessed 20.12.11. http://www.horizons.gc.ca/doclib/PS-pwfc2008-Eales-eng.pdf.
17. Lilly M.B., Laporte A., Coyte P.C. Labor market work and home care's unpaid caregivers: A systematic review of labor force participation rates, predictors of labor market withdrawal, and hours of work. The Milbank Quarterly 2007, 85(4):641-690.
18. Lilly M.B., Jacobs J., Ng C., Coyte P.C. Exploring the influence of caregiving intensity on the labour supply of family/friend caregivers in Canada Dec 2011, Final report. Submitted to Policy Research Directorate, Strategic Policy and Research Branch, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada.
19. Lilly M.B., Laporte A., Coyte P.C. Do they care too much to work? The influence of caregiving intensity on the labour force participation of unpaid caregivers in Canada. Journal of Health Economics 2010, 29(6):895-903.
20. Lilly M.B., Robinson C.A., Holtzman S., Bottorff J.L. Can we move beyond burden and burnout to support the health and wellness of family caregivers to persons with dementia? Evidence from British Columbia, Canada. Health and Social Care in the Community 2012, 20(1):103-112.
21. O'Reilly D., Connolly S., Rosato M., Patterson C. Is caring associated with an increased risk of mortality? A longitudinal study. Social Science & Medicine 2008, 67(8):1282-1290.
22. Pyper W. Balancing career and care. Perspectives on Labour and Income 2006, 7(11):5-14.
23. Statistics Canada. (2010). Table 202-0501 - Income tax, by economic family type and after-tax income quintiles, 2010 constant dollars, annual, CANSIM (database).
24. Tan S.S., Bouwmand C.A.M., Rutten F.F.H., Hakkaart-van Roijen L. Update of the Dutch manual for costing in economic evaluations. International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care 2012, 28(2):152-158.
25. Van Houtven C.H., Norton E.C. Informal care and health care use of older adults. Journal of Health Economics 2004, 23(6):1159-1180.