Well-being implications of informal caregiving: Evidence on loneliness and social isolation

Well-being implications of informal caregiving: Evidence on loneliness and social isolation | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Well-being implications of informal caregiving: Evidence on loneliness and social isolation Sabrina Lenzen, Isaac Koomson, Raymond Elikplim Kofinti This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8819809/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract While informal care is regarded as an appealing alternative to formal care, it often comes at the expense of the caregiver. Existing studies have primarily focused on the financial implications of informal caregiving with limited attention to its hidden costs, including social aspects. This study contributes to the literature by examining the effects of informal caregiving on loneliness and social isolation using longitudinal data from a large nationally representative household survey in Australia. To study the relationship, we first employ a dynamic difference-indifferences (DID) method, exploiting the variation in the timing of caring across informal caregivers. Second, we complement our analysis with an instrumental variables (IV) method, using eligibility to government-funded Carer Payment as IV. Both strategies show that informal caregiving increases the probability of experiencing loneliness, particularly among female and spousal caregivers. While DID estimates show no effect on social isolation, IV results suggest that caregiving raises social isolation among male compliers, but not females. These findings highlight the hidden social costs of informal caregiving and underscore the need for targeted support policies. JEL codes: I10, I31, J22 informal care loneliness social isolation well-being Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8819809","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":594432342,"identity":"b048a930-7a6a-4a88-87d3-e0ef96a8919c","order_by":0,"name":"Sabrina Lenzen","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA1ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFAC5gYwxQ8m2YjSwgjRItlAshaDA8RqkW9gbHxc8Mcmz/hG8gaGD2WHGfhnJODXYnCAsdl4Bk9asdmNtALGGecOM0jcIKSFgbFNmkficOK2GzkGzLxthxkYCGkBOqz9N4/B/8TNM4Ba/gK1yBPSwnCAsY2ZJ+FA4gYJoBZGoBYDgg47zNgszXMgOXHGmWcFB3vOpfMYnnlAwGHtzQc/8/yxS+xvT9744EeZtZzccUIOY0ay8QCQ4CGgHs2RJKkeBaNgFIyCkQMAWAhCNPAp6f4AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"The University of Queensland","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Sabrina","middleName":"","lastName":"Lenzen","suffix":""},{"id":594432343,"identity":"bd2d2c86-6eec-4355-a7c8-2fcb0ca26852","order_by":1,"name":"Isaac Koomson","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"The University of Queensland","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Isaac","middleName":"","lastName":"Koomson","suffix":""},{"id":594432344,"identity":"1f44b05f-1317-41b7-a23c-092c012022a2","order_by":2,"name":"Raymond Elikplim Kofinti","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Cape Coast","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Raymond","middleName":"Elikplim","lastName":"Kofinti","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-02-08 07:38:14","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8819809/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8819809/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":108182465,"identity":"0014b553-d588-4bf0-b479-a23fa3e2926c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-30 08:59:23","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":947481,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Informalcareloneliness.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8819809/v1_covered_cea6a0b3-c2bd-48b9-883d-e27b69ec11ba.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Well-being implications of informal caregiving: Evidence on loneliness and social isolation","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"informal care, loneliness, social isolation, well-being","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8819809/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8819809/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eWhile informal care is regarded as an appealing alternative to formal care, it often comes at the expense of the caregiver. 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