The economic value of informal caregiving (1999)

This study is the first to estimate the current market value of the care provided by unpaid family members and friends to ill and disabled adults. ($196 billion in 1997. Recent studies have put this figure at $375 billion for 2007.) This study derived national prevalence of caregiving figures using data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) and the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH). To determine the hours of care provided per caregiver, the SIPP, the NSFH, the Health Interview Survey (HIS), and the National Long-Term Care Survey (NLTCS) were used. In addition to revealing the substantial contribution caregivers make to long-term care, this survey also provides one methodology for how to use national data sets to derive estimates of caregiving prevalence and the amount the care provided.

Citation Arno, P.S., Levine, C., & Memmott, M.M. (1999). The economic value of informal caregiving. Health Affairs, 18(2), 182-188

Date 1999