What determines the receipt of formal paid, formal state or informal social support in later life?

In the current economic circumstances and political climate, older people may be increasingly dependent on their own social and financial resources in order to obtain care and assistance with daily activities. However, the support received in later life may consist of a mixture between formal paid, formal state and informal support, and understanding the determinants of receiving support from different sources is an essential part of policy-making for the future. This paper draws from data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) in order to investigate the key determinants of receiving support from different sources. After reading this poster, participants will be able to distinguish between the determinants of receiving formal paid, formal state or informal support, which include demographic factors and living arrangements; measures of health, including disability and disease; socio-economic measures, including education and income; technological assistance and home adaptations. The results show that the strongest determinants of receipt of both informal and paid for support are health and demographic characteristics, while health is more strongly associated with informal care and demographic factors are most strongly associated with the receipt of paid for support. Finally, this poster also facilitates participants to understand the policy implications of the results for the design of social care, and to contextualise these results in patterns of population ageing