1. Older people’s participation in disability benefits: targeting, timing and financial wellbeing Francesca Zantomio Ca’ Foscari University of Venice francesca.zantomio@unive.it New Directions in Welfare 2011, Paris

2. Motivation Provision and funding of social care for the elderly, in the light of population ageing Public provision for older people with disabilities in the UK Attendance Allowance (AA) Cash additions to means-tested programs Local Authorities’ provision of care Are (extra-costs) disability benefits in cash an effective form of support for the elderly?

3. Research questions Targeting: is entry into AA responsive to changes in potential claimants’ disability status ? Timing: how long does it take to claim AA, after the onset of disability? Who takes longer to claim AA, after the onset of disability? Perceived financial wellbeing: is AA making a difference to recipients?

4. Attendance Allowance Eligiblity aged 65+ need of care as a consequence of disability non means-tested Award£300 monthly if need care throughout day and night £200 monthly if need care throughout either day or night Timing of claim and receipt Request application pack Counts as date of claim if form returned by 6 weeks Administration takes 24 working days to process claim Receipt starts after the eligibility condition has lasted for 6 months

5. Data British Household Panel Survey data, waves 1-17 Range of health state indicators: Self reported health status Activities of Daily Living (ADL) Specific health problems Informal care received Registered or self-reported disabled Use of health services (GP visits, hospital days, other) Number of serious accidents Interviewer’s report of physical difficulties Mental distress Financial resources Whether has received AA since September of the previous year

6. Sample selection Respondents aged 65+, at risk of AA eligibility Exclude cases: In receipt of DLA Unobserved in year prior to first reported receipt of AA Endogenous selection? Sample size: 5,334 individuals; 1,009 entries into AA (absorbing state)

7. Targeting: who receives AA?

8. Disability indicator

9. Targeting: who receives AA?

10. Timing: gap between disability onset (after 65+) and first AA receipt

12. Outcomes after receipt AA meant to support the “extra-costs” of disability: does it make a difference to recipients’ perceived financial wellbeing? Exploit the imperfect targeting features of AA (AA award as a “lottery” for observationally equivalent individuals) Compare the later outcomes of - AA entrants at a given point in time t with those of - observationally equivalent individuals who, despite facing the same risk of AA entry in t, have not entered the program, at least up to t Assume no unobserved confounding determinant of selection into AA entry in t Estimate propensity score for entry in AA in t, wave by wave, to build appropriate control group –no replacement –0.05 caliper

16. Conclusions Entry into AA is highly responsive to previous changes in disability status AA enhances recipients’ perceived financial wellbeing However Personal and household characteristics, unrelated to eligibility, do affect the benefit assignment mechanisms, raising horizontal equity concerns Considerable delays in claiming are also found which, given the low life expectancy of disabled elderly, might severely compromise the effectiveness of the program

18. Measurement error in AA receipt Disentangle AA and DLA receipt

22. Estimated probability distribution - delay in receipt of AA