Socio-economic differences in receiving care by the over-80s in Germany and England: intensity of care needs as a moderator

Henz, Ursula ORCID: 0000-0002-0096-2002 and Wagner, Michael (2025) Socio-economic differences in receiving care by the over-80s in Germany and England: intensity of care needs as a moderator. European Journal of Ageing. ISSN 1613-9372 (In Press)

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Abstract

The growing number of people aged 80 or older living in the community has raised concerns about meeting their care needs and about socio-economic inequalities in their care use. The study examines socio-economic status (SES) patterns in informal and formal care use, as well as unmet care needs, of people aged 80 or older living in the community in Germany and England. We propose that SES patterns in care use change with the intensity of care needs. The analyses use data from the Survey of Quality of Life and Well-Being of the Very Old in North Rhine-Westphalia and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Despite the differences in the long-term care systems (LTCSs) and cultural norms around filial obligations, we find a consistent pattern of association between socio-economic status (SES) and care use for older people with only few care needs in both countries. In this group, people with a higher SES have the highest likelihood of experiencing unmet care needs. For older people with many care needs, we find country-specific SES patterns that we link to cultural differences and the design of the LTCSs. In Germany, SES is negatively associated with using informal care and positively with using formal care. In England, care use shows little SES variation for older people with many care needs. The findings underscore the importance of considering the intensity of care needs when assessing inequalities in care access.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2025 The Author(s)
Divisions:	Sociology
Subjects:	H Social Sciences H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Date Deposited:	09 Jun 2025 15:03
Last Modified:	09 Jun 2025 15:36
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/128333

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