Towards the 'Defamilisation' of Preferred Care? An analysis of the Spanish Context (1997-2009)

It has been stated that informal care is the 'preferred' option in Spain because this is the form of support used by the majority of the population. However, is this the ideal choice? This paper uses three surveys from the Spanish Centre for Sociological Research (1997, 2001 and 2009) to analyse the preferences of the Spanish population for three types of support in recent years: informal family-based caregiving; formal public and private services; or combined care, which is a combination of the two previous ones. The socio-demographic characteristics of the people who would opt for each one of them is also discussed. The results suggest that, whereas the preference for family caregivers remains the choice of the majority, the preference for formal forms of care has grown substantially in recent decades.