The dynamics of social care in the UK

Maria Evandrou, University of Southampton
Jane C Falkingham, University of Southampton

Although the number of older people receiving home care services is well documented from administrative data, less is known about the characteristics of service beneficiaries. This paper uses data from the British Household Panel Study to investigate the factors associated with making the transition into receipt of social care and predictors associated with continued receipt of care. It is hypothesised that starting to receive social care services is associated with a change in the individual’s characteristics (eg their health), a change in their living arrangements (eg death of a spouse), or a change in their spouse’s characteristics. Similarly, cessation of formal care receipt may be related to changes in the availability of informal care or entry into institutional care. Such associations cannot be captured using cross-sectional data. Understanding the dynamics of social care will facilitate planning the care needs of older people today but also in the future.