Unpaid caregiving to adults: the importance and challenges of using time use data

opulation ageing is increasing the demand for long-term care services across high-income countries, a trend which will continue as populations over 80 years old increase in size. Unpaid caregivers are often the main source of long-term care services for ageing, sick and disabled adults. Their time provides an important service to recipients while offsetting substantial costs to health care systems. It is unclear how those who provide unpaid care to adults will handle competing demands of labour market participation and caregiving - a combination which involves trade-offs that can be stressful for the caregiver. This chapter discusses the advantages and limitations of time use data for understanding unpaid caregiving to adults. We argue that these data are crucial for informing policy and planning. However, future collection of time use information requires refinement and harmonization and should be collected regularly across countries with ageing populations.