The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between informal and formal care systems for the elderly. an interview survey of 92 day care users was conducted to collect data. The conclusions can be drawn the findings: First of all, although elderly people use day care service, they still receive lots of assistance from family members. That is, day care workers can not completely substitute family caregivers, and therefore the assumption that formal services will substitute family care is merely a myth. Secondly, the tasks provided by day care workers are not completely different from the assistance given by family caregivers, neither are they totally the same. In other words, the finding suggests that the relationship between informal and formal care is supplemental. In addition, the comparison of different tasks indicated that family members tend to give help which require only everyday knowledge and face-to-face proximity, while day care workers are more inclined to provide predictable tasks which require technical knowledge. Thirdly, when elderly people can receive the assistance both from day care workers and family caregivers, they feel more comfortable with family assistance. The finding, to some degree, support the hypothesis that family is the most preferred. Finally, policy implications and future research directions are discussed.