Balancing Work and Older Parent Care: Implications for Caregiver Health in Italy.

Elisa Cisotto , Free University of Bozen-Bolzano
Giulia Cavrini, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano
Alessandra De Rose, Sapienza Università di Roma

This study analyses the link between informal care and negative health caregivers’ outcomes in Italy, a country with a weak public social security system, where care provision relies almost entirely on informal care provided by the family. We analyse data from the 2016 Survey on Families, social subjects and life cycle conducted by the Italian National Institute of Statistics. The analytical sample consists of 9,757 respondents having at least one parent/parent-in-law alive and complete health information. Caregivers are identified through questions about weekly caregiving, co-residence with care recipients, and assistance outside the household. Caregiving intensity is categorized as low (under 20 hours) or high (over 20 hours). About 13% of respondents are caregivers, with women predominating. Among caregivers, over a quarter co-reside with the care recipients, around 3% assist multiple people, and one-third provide in high-intensity care. Logistic regression analyses confirm that informal caregiving for parents/parents-in-law is significantly associated with lower self-reported health. Specifically, high-intensity caregiving is linked to a 9% decrease in self-reported health for women and low-intensity caregiving to a 6% decrease for men. Stratified analysis further reveals that employed individuals experience more substantial health declines compared to compared to those who are out of the labour market. These results emphasize the importance of addressing gender-specific caregiving dynamics and the challenges faced by those juggling work and caregiving duties to enhance support for caregivers and improve overall health outcomes.

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 Presented in Session P2. Health, Mortality, Ageing - Aperitivo