U.S. State Policy Contexts and Caregiving for Older Adults: Evidence from the American Time-Use Survey (2011-2019)

• In Event: 50617 - Welfare States in Practice: Care, Control, and Inequality

Abstract

As the population ages in the United States, understanding the policy determinants of family caregiving prevalence and intensity is critical for identifying evidence-based strategies to support caregivers in the United States. Yet, few studies have investigated how state policy contexts shape caregiving for older adults. Merging nearly a decade of state policy data from Medicaid expenditure reports and the State Policy & Politics Database with individual-level data from the American Time Use Survey (N=79,657), this study fills a critical gap in the literature by asking whether, how, and for whom state long-term care policies, policy liberalism, and economic policy liberalism are associated with care provision and caregiving frequency. Using two-way fixed effects multinomial logistic regression models, I find that higher state investment in at-home care through Medicaid is associated with an increased likelihood of not being a caregiver, and a decreased likelihood of intense caregiving. General policy liberalism is also associated with lower likelihood of intense caregiving. Policy contexts with more liberal economic policies are associated with increased likelihood of occasional caregiving. These preliminary findings have implications for how we understand the role of policy in distributing the responsibility of care for older adults.

Author

• Elise M Parrish, University of Pennsylvania