Attitudes towards Bearing the Cost of Care in Later Life across the World

Abstract

The aging population is recognized by many as a unique global phenomenon and has become a subject of interest among multidisciplinary professionals. Perhaps one of the most common key concerns among individuals and family members in many countries today is to meet the increasing demand for elderly healthcare, particularly the real challenges and crisis in old age morbidity and health. As the socioeconomic, demographic and cultural context of populations varies from one setting to another, the intergenerational support as well as responsibility for the cost of care also varies across the globe. In particular, issues related to elderly healthcare financing and its support are growing steadily and are becoming dominant topics in social gerontology. The aim of this study is to examine the effects of age, gender and employment on the perceptions of people with regard to their own care costs in later life. The data for the study come from the global aging study (GLAS), popularly known as “The Future of Retirement.” The initial field surveys were completed in two successive years—2004 and 2005—and involved interviewing around 22,329 individuals aged 18 years and over across 20 countries and territories covering four major regions of the world. A cross-sectional survey design was employed in which respondents were selected randomly. Each respondent was asked a number of questions on their socioeconomic and demographic situation; their retirement and pension plans; health, wellbeing and quality of life, and voluntary contributions and inter-generational support. Among others two questions were asked directly about the responsibility of the financial cost of care in retirement and these were: “who should bear” as well as “who will bear” most of the financial costs of care in retirement. These questions were then further explored to see how the responses varied with respect to the age, gender and employment status of the respondents. It has been found that age, gender and employment status play significant roles in determining people's perceptions towards bearing the cost of care in retirement or old age. There is a significant gap between the respondents' perceptions of who “should” and “will” bear the cost of care. The article concludes with a brief discussion on policy implications.