The social stratification of informal caregiving among mature European women. Patterns in caregiving occurrence, intensity and type

In ageing societies, the rising share of older adults places significant care burdens on family members. While much research addresses informal caregiving, the role of social inequality remains insufficiently theorized and empirically unpacked across its multiple dimensions. This article examines how socioeconomic status (SES) shapes exposure to caregiving, as well as the occurrence, intensity, type, and living arrangements of care provided to older parents and parents-in-law among European women. Using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE, 2004–2022), we show that higher-SES women are more likely to have surviving parents and, conditional on this, are more likely to provide sporadic and weekly care. This positive gradient is observed across different types of support—personal care, household help, and paperwork help. By contrast, no clear gradient emerges for more intensive daily care, and co-residence is somewhat more concentrated among lower-SES women. Parental education plays a more limited direct role than respondents’ own education and income. Overall, the findings show that caregiving is not structured along a single socioeconomic gradient, but may reflect multiple mechanisms related to differential exposure, norms and expectations, resources, opportunity costs, and access to public services or market substitutes.