Thinking of Incentivizing Care? The Effect of Demand Subsidies on Informal Caregiving and Intergenerational Transfers

We show that demand side cash subsidies to care recipients alter both caregiving and intergenerational transfer decisions. We exploit a quasi-natural experiment referring to the inception of a universal caregiving allowance (in 2007 and its reduction in 2012). We find a caregiving subsidy (of a magnitude of 530€ in 2011) to increase the probability of informal caregiving by 32% (the intensity of care in 13.5 days/year). Similarly, we find that downstream (upstream) intergenerational transfers increased (decreased) in a magnitude of 29% (15%). The effects concentrate among middle and lower income households, and were attenuated by the reduction of the subsidy.