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Analysing equity in the use of long-term care in Europe
- Authors:
- RODRIGUES Ricardo, ILINCA Stefania, SCHMIDT Andrea
- Publisher:
- European Commission
- Publication year:
- 2014
- Pagination:
- 39
- Place of publication:
- Brussels
There are significant differences across social protection systems in Europe in the scope, breadth and depth of coverage of the risk to need long-term care in old-age. Together with other factors, such as education, household structure or societal values regarding care for frail older people, these differences can have a significant impact on the use of long-term care. Using SHARE data, this Research Note compares differences between European countries in the use of long-term care across income groups, for older people living at home. It analyses not only inequalities in the use of long-term care, but also differences in use that persist after differences in need have been taken into consideration, i.e. horizontal inequity. For this purpose, concentration indices, concentration curves and horizontal inequity indices are estimated for home care services and informal care. The countries analysed here are Austria, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, France, Denmark, Greece, Belgium and Czech Republic. The findings suggest that differences in use of home care services across income groups mostly reflect differences in need between those same groups. For informal care, the differences in use persist even after accounting for needs, and less affluent individuals are much more likely to use informal care. Some possible causes for these differences and policy implications are considered.