Economic value of non-professional care in Spain. An analysis of the last decade

The objective of this work is to estimate the time and value of the non-professional care, also called informal care, provided to people with limited autonomy in Spain, and to analyze its evolution between 2008 and 2021. We used as the main source of information the Survey of Situations of Disability, Personal Autonomy and Dependency carried out in the years 2008 and 2020-21. Non-professional care time has been assessed using replacement cost and contingent valuation methods. The analysis was carried out from the individual (main caregiver) and aggregate (national level) perspective. Additionally, care time was analyzed using multivariate regression models. The number of non-professional caregivers increased by 20.5% between 2008 and 2021. The estimated non-professional care time in 2021 was 5,156 million hours (25% more than in 2008). The most conservative estimates of care time assessment represent 1.42%, 2.96% and 6.72% of GDP, using the Willingness to Pay, Willingness to Accept and replacement cost, respectively. The multivariate analysis indicates that the degree of dependency was the main variable to account for the probability of receiving non-professional care. We conclude that despite the growth of the Spanish System for Autonomy and Care for Dependent Patients over the last 18 years, the non-professional network continues to provide invaluable support for the care provided to dependent people. The estimated results and their evolution constitute valuable information for use in planning policies to promote autonomy and care for dependent people, as well as support for caregivers today and in the coming years.