The division of the social care provided to the elderly: complexities, inequalities and preferences

Abstract

This article, which is based on qualitative research, talks about how the provision of social care to the elderly is divided up between family and non-family carers. Working from a conceptual model which avoids the dichotomies used in the research that has already been done on this topic, the data which the author has gathered and analysed reveal complexities and hybridisms in the division of care, as well as inequalities linked to social class and gender. In addition, the family carers who were interviewed chose the combination of family care with domiciliary support — the “family carer’s friend” (whose interventions can involve eight or more hours a day) — as the preferred/ideal way of dividing care. The importance of these results is discussed in depth, not only from a sociological point of view, but also in terms of professional practices and social policies.