Grandchild care and eldercare. A quid pro quo arrangement

Mathieu Lefebvre (), Pierre Pestieau () and Jérôme Schoenmaeckers
Additional contact information
Mathieu Lefebvre: BETA - Bureau d'Économie Théorique et Appliquée - AgroParisTech - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar - UL - Université de Lorraine - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement
Pierre Pestieau: ULiège - Université de Liège = University of Liège = Universiteit van Luik = Universität Lüttich, CORE - Center of Operation Research and Econometrics [Louvain] - UCL - Université Catholique de Louvain = Catholic University of Louvain
Jérôme Schoenmaeckers: ULiège - Université de Liège = University of Liège = Universiteit van Luik = Universität Lüttich

Post-Print from HAL

Abstract: The phenomenon of grandparents assuming the role of caretakers for their grandchildren is substantial and on the rise; a trend partially attributed to mothers' increased participation in the workforce. While altruism is commonly assumed to be the primary driver behind such caregiving, we examine an additional motivation: the expectation among grandparents that they will receive care from their offspring in the event of their own incapacity. This study investigates this hypothesis from theoretical and empirical perspectives. Initially, we construct a theoretical framework, delineating a sub-game perfect Nash equilibrium model wherein the grandparent first commits to caring for the grandchild, followed by anticipation of receiving care from their adult child in disability scenarios. Subsequently, we empirically test the feasibility of this model by analysing data sourced from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. Our results confirm that elderly parents who cared for their grandchildren received more support from their children in the case of a loss of autonomy.

Keywords: Long-term care; Intergenerational transfers; Informal care (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-02-12
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Published in Economic Modelling, 2025, 146, pp.107006. ⟨10.1016/j.econmod.2025.107006⟩

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05081384

DOI: 10.1016/j.econmod.2025.107006

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Post-Print from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().