AEA Papers and Proceedings
ISSN 2574-0768 (Print) | ISSN 2574-0776 (Online)
Is All Caregiving Created Equal? A Comparison of Caregiving to Children and Adults
AEA Papers and Proceedings
vol. 113,
May 2023
(pp. 627–31)
Abstract
In this paper, we compare patterns of family care provided to children and to adults, and discuss what these patterns suggest about how individuals make decisions over, and ultimately value, such care. We show that patterns of informal adult care do not resemble patterns of informal childcare along three important dimensions: caregiver age, caregiver education, and the response of caregiving to macroeconomic conditions. The finding that childcare and adult care are economically distinct suggest that policies, like paid family leave, that support caregivers should more carefully consider these differences.Citation
Mommaerts, Corina, and Yulya Truskinovsky. 2023. "Is All Caregiving Created Equal? A Comparison of Caregiving to Children and Adults." AEA Papers and Proceedings, 113: 627–31. DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20231107Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D13 Household Production and Intrahousehold Allocation
- D15 Intertemporal Household Choice; Life Cycle Models and Saving
- I11 Analysis of Health Care Markets
- J12 Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure; Domestic Abuse
- J13 Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
- J32 Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits; Retirement Plans; Private Pensions