Roger, Kerstin

Many carers spend money out of their own pockets on the care-related needs of their family members or friends, and this spending may expose carers to a higher risk of financial hardship. Using data from a nationally representative sample of family carers drawn from Statistics Canada's 2012 General Social Survey on Caregiving and Care Receiving, we find that nearly one in five carers reports experiencing financial hardship. The results from multivariate logistic regression analysis show that care-related out-of-pocket expenditures are significant predictors of financial hardship.

This study focused on out-of-pocket expenditures resulting from providing unpaid care to family members, friends, and neighbours. The main objective was to examine whether care-related out-of-pocket spending has a significant independent effect on caregiving consequences after controlling for the effects of other potential contributing factors. Cross-sectional data from the 2007 General Social Survey were used. Descriptive analyses and multivariate regression modeling were conducted.