Summary:
The aim of this article is to examine the role of informal care within the elderly care system in Switzerland, which is strongly oriented by a “stay at home” policy. It focuses on a still neglected perspective, that of the care receiver. The data are both quantitative and qualitative, and they relate to a sample of people aged eighty and over living at home in the canton of Ticino. A large majority benefit from informal care provided by one or more relatives; a form of support that is both relational and shown through practical and one-off tasks such as shopping, transportation, and administrative help. This care, which is more present among elderly people with children, is nevertheless determined not by the existence of offspring but by the existence of direct and frequent contact, and, therefore, geographical proximity, between caregiver and care receiver. Intergenerational care is normally associated with positive feelings, but it can also raise contradictions. On the one hand, there is a desire to be able to count on one’s children when one is in great need. On the other hand, there is a will to respect their autonomy. A more significant institutional recognition of family caregiving—through the introduction of financial assistance and universal leave—could help to reduce this feeling of ambivalence, both for the caregiver and the care receiver.