Zorgzame vrienden en buren als mantelzorgers van oudere volwassenen: een vergelijking met kinderen S. Egging a , A.H. de Boer a , N.L. Stevens b Caring friends and neighbors as informal caregivers of older adults: A comparison with offspring This study compared informal care to older, non-coresiding adults provided by friends and neighbours and informal care by children or their partners. Using data from a Dutch representative survey among informal caregivers conducted by CBS and SCP, caregivers of friends (n=133), neighbours (n=108) and parents (n=1,008) were compared with one another to investi- gate care that friends and neighbours provide to the elderly non-coresiding adults (age 55 and over). Nine percent of those providing care to someone outside the household were friends and nine percent were neighbours. Friends, like children, usually provide long-lasting care, up to four or five years. Friends are similar to neighbours in the number of hours that they provide care. Friends and neighbours experience a lower caregiver burden than children. However, when fulfilling multiple caring tasks, both friends and children, have a greater chance of experiencing higher levels of burden. When there were other caregivers to help, friends experienced a small re- duction in burden. Friends and neighbours deserve to be recognized as in- formal caregivers by policy makers and they deserve attention and support along with family caregivers. Keywords: Friends, neighbours, older adults, informal caregiving, burden Tijdschr Gerontol Geriatr 2011; 42: 243-255 Samenvatting Deze studie vergelijkt mantelzorg aan oudere uitwonende volwassenen door vrienden en buren met mantelzorg door (schoon)kinderen. Aan de hand van de gegevens van een repre- sentatieve steekproef onder mantelzorgers in a Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau, Den Haag b Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud Universiteit, Nij- megen Correspondentie: SCP: Postbus 16164, 2500 BD Den Haag, t.a.v. A.H. de Boer T: 070-3406211 Email adres: a.de. boer@SCP.nl