The opportunity costs of informal elder-care in the United States: new estimates from the American Time Use Survey.
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ABSTRACT: Objectives
To provide nationally representative estimates of the opportunity costs of informal elder-care in the United States.Data sources
Data from the 2011 and 2012 American Time Use Survey.Study design
Wage is used as the measure of an individual's value of time (opportunity cost), with wages being imputed for nonworking individuals using a selection-corrected regression methodology.Principal findings
The total opportunity costs of informal elder-care amount to $522 billion annually, while the costs of replacing this care by unskilled and skilled paid care are $221 billion and $642 billion, respectively.Conclusions
Informal caregiving remains a significant phenomenon in the United States with a high opportunity cost, although it remains more economical (in the aggregate) than skilled paid care.
SUBMITTER: Chari AV
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4450934 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jun
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
The opportunity costs of informal elder-care in the United States: new estimates from the American Time Use Survey.
Chari Amalavoyal V AV Engberg John J Ray Kristin N KN Mehrotra Ateev A
Health services research 20141007 3
<h4>Objectives</h4>To provide nationally representative estimates of the opportunity costs of informal elder-care in the United States.<h4>Data sources</h4>Data from the 2011 and 2012 American Time Use Survey.<h4>Study design</h4>Wage is used as the measure of an individual's value of time (opportunity cost), with wages being imputed for nonworking individuals using a selection-corrected regression methodology.<h4>Principal findings</h4>The total opportunity costs of informal elder-care amount t ...[more]
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