This project assesses the impact of social insurance on informal Long-Term-Care (LTC) provision by family members in Germany. Family members are the most important providers of informal outpatient LTC. While two-thirds of eldercare is provided by women, most care is given by women aged 55-70.

To study the dynamic interaction between social insurance systems in Germany and the decision to provide informal care, dynamic structural estimation (DSE) methods are utilized. In a first step, the project examines the individual short-, and long-term opportunity costs of informal caregiving to family members as well as the role of public LTC insurance. Then, the project studies the role of pension policy reforms for informal LTC provision and the care mix (informal vs. formal care provision). Further, it investigates the impact on inequality. Using DSE methods, the final part evaluates alternative policy options to improve caregiving and labor market outcomes.