The Economic Cost of Informal Caregiving for the Inpatient: The Case of Jimma University Referral Hospital, Jimma, Ethiopia

This study analyzes the economic cost of informally supplied health care with special emphasis on the labor market-related opportunity cost of informal caregiving for the inpatient at Jimma university referral hospital. The study used a primary data collected from 238 sample respondents.The empirical analysis was made by using the ordinary least squares (OLS)method of regression. The estimation results revealed that paid job experience, educational level, and employment status (with the exception of temporary employment) were statistically significant and positively related with the logarithm of the value or the cost ofinformal care through the wage difference. Quite unexpectedly, the number of external caregivers was also positively related to the logarithm of informal caregiving. On the other hand, the age of informal care recipient and the interaction term (female informal caregivers from urban area) are also statistically significant and negatively related to the logarithm of the value of informal care. These findings suggest that interventions and policy directions aimed at improving such as of the government through the policy of awareness creation, financial support, work accommodation and improvement of the accessibility and facility of the hospital. Keywords: Ethiopia, Informal care, Informal caregiver, Economic cost, opportunity cost, Jimma