Social and economic incentives for family Caregivers

The recent emphasis on developing programs and policies to support families who care for aged relatives makes it important to understand the families' receptivity to the specific social and economic incentives under consideration. The research reported in this paper draws on the experiences of 203 individuals identified as the primary caregiver to an aged frail relative currently receiving home care or day care services in New York City. As part of a larger study of caregiving behavior, respondents were asked to rank their preferences for various service and economic support programs. Findings indicate that family caregivers perceive service and social supports, specifically medical care and homemaker service, as more crucial than both direct and indirect financial incentives. Furthermore, the issue of economic incentives elicited an extremely negative reaction from a significant minority who refused to consider such support in their personal family situations. The analysis indicated that the caregiver's background characteristics were not critical in differentiating caregivers who select either a service or an economic incentive. Among the set of variables defining the current caregiving situation, only sex of the aged relative and utilization of home care services were significantly related to choice of program. Respondents caring for females and high service utilizers were more likely to prefer service supports. Relevance of findings to current policy initiatives regarding financial incentives to families are presented.