From Care Gaps to Mental Health Strain

Joan Costa-Font (), Cinzia Di Novi () and Cristina Elisa Orso ()
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Joan Costa-Font: London School of Economics and Political Science
Cinzia Di Novi: University of Pavia
Cristina Elisa Orso: University of Insubria

No 231, DEM Working Papers Series from University of Pavia, Department of Economics and Management

Abstract: We study the later-life spillover effects of adult unmet care needs on mental health and health care utilization of older-age Europeans. We draw on longitudinal data from a longitudinal sample of Europeans before, during, and after COVID-19. We exploit an instrumental variable design alongside a causal mediation analysis to examine the effect of unmet care needs on mental health. We show that unmet care needs after the COVID-19 pandemic gave rise to an increased cognitive decline and depressive symptoms and that this effect is mediated by exposure to loneliness during the pandemic among those with unmet care needs.

Keywords: loneliness; mental health; caregiving arrangements; informal care; adult care (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I13 J14 J22 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 44
Date: 2025-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea and nep-neu
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