The impact of retirement policy on informal care provision in urban China.

In most developing countries, the limited availability and affordability of formal care options make it essential to develop and implement policies that formally recognise and promote informal caregiving. This paper aims to identify effective mechanisms to strengthen support for informal care. We focus on China's statutory retirement age (SRA) policy and identify a local causal effect of retirement on informal care provision induced by the SRA among individuals near the retirement threshold. We find that although retirement does not significantly impact the likelihood of providing care, it significantly increases the amount of care provided on weekdays, with no significant effect on weekends. Finally, while retirement increases informal care provision for both genders, the effect is disproportionately driven by women, who provide around 50% more informal care than men.