Care dependency policies in a
European perspective –
Selected Issues
Bratislava, December 3rd 2009
Manfred Huber, Ricardo Rodrigues, Frédérique
Hoffmann, Katrin Gasior and Bernd Marin
• Portrait of Informal Carers
• Challenges to avoid future
Care Gaps
• Further Research &
Preliminary Conclusions
Portrait of Informal Carers
More than 80% of all care is provided by family carers
By choice?
By love?
By constraint?
By opportunity?
Who cares?
Relationship between the carer and the care recipient in percentage
Source: OECD (2005); National Sources for Israel and the Slovak Republic; EUROFAMCARE
national reports (2004).
Labour of love
Family help as a percentage of help to people aged 75+
by country and domain, 2000/2001
Source: EUROFAMCARE and national sources.
Other types of help
• In Russia financial support ‘is the most
widespread form of help that older parents
receive from their adult children (Kholostova,
2002 p.16).
• Help in running a farm as a subsistence
means is also more widespread in Eastern
Europe
It‘s a Woman‘s World
Family carers by gender and country
Regardless
of „care
regimes“
Source: National sources, OECD (2005) and EUROFAMCARE national reports.
Carers: United in Diversity
Percentage of the population aged 15+ providing informal care
to a relative aged 60+ (1999)
Intimacy at a
distance in the North
Sharing roof and
care in the South
Source: Own calculations based on Walker (1999).
Loneliness in very old-age...
Living arrangements for older people, by gender (based on 2001 Census data)
Older
Northern
Europeans
likely to live
alone…
Greece – Total 65+
Source: Karagiannaki (2005)
… unlike older
Southern
Europeans (albeit
less and less so)
Source: UNDESA/Population Division (2005), Eurostat 2001 Census
data.
What Children Want
Older people want to age in place but...
Question 7a: If your elderly parent lives alone and needs long-term care, what in
your opinion would be the best option?
Source: Eurobarometer (2008), question: 7a.
Overburdened Carers?
EUROBAROMETER (2007): In your opinion, do dependent older
people rely too much on their relatives?
Lack of care
services…
Providing
care to coresidents…
Heavy
care…
… explaining
carers’
burden?
Source: EUROBAROMETER (2007)
• Full-time carers are likely to experience some
degree of isolation and/or psychological
distress (depression, anxiety…)
• Countries from the NMS who feel they should
take care of the elderly themselves also
report high levels of over-reliance
Ageing Carers
• They could endanger their own physical &
mental health:
In Italy 10% of care is provided by the 80+
• In Kyrgyz Rep. with high levels of emigration,
older people are carers of their grandchildren
...is this also a pattern for other ‘donor’
countries?
Challenges to avoid future
‘care gaps’
A mid-life Occupation
Providing care for older family members by country and age group
Source: OECD (2005), EUROFAMCARE national reports.
• Age group with the largest share of informal
carers is the 45-64 year olds
• This group is also being courted through the
Lisbon Agenda to remain longer in the labour
market...particularly women.
Reconciliation of care and paid work
Employment status of main carers by country and domain
Source: National sources, EUROFAMCARE national reports, Lamura et al. (2006).
• Across the EU on average just over 40% of
informal carers were in gainful employment
• Many caregivers end their professional career
(50% in the NL) or reduce their hours of work
as a result of caring.
Advantages of remaining
in paid work
• Income and pension rights
• Helps to maintain social networks
• Offers a temporary relief from caring role
• Enhances self-esteem
• Offers the opportunity to share concerns with
colleagues in a similar situation
• But…financial help to family carers varies among
countries
What might carers look
like in the future?
Demographics bound to
change picture
“Support ratio”: number of women aged 45-64 for each 80 year-old (2006 or 2005)
Source: Eurostat
•
Gender
mainstreaming
in policies
(or lack of)
•
Conciliating
support for
carers and
employment
policies
The demographic future of CARERs has
already started – older and more often male
Average age of carers
80
60
40
20
0
Poland
Greece
Sweden
Source: EUROFAMCARE national reports (2004).
The migrant carer to compensate for
family care
• 15-20% of all Italians
needing long-term care
are cared for by “badanti”
– migrant, mostly female
carers from Ukraine,
Romania...
• Austria has ‘legalised’ the
so-called 24-hours care
both in terms of labour law
and in terms of nursing
legislation
• Support and integration of
migrant carers
Thought-provoking questions
• Ageing of carers:
will (healthier) 65+ spouses take over from
their daughters and daughters-in-law?
• Reconciliation of work and care
duties…reconciliation of employment policies
and support for care
• Who will take care of the elderly living in the
donor countries?
Further information
European Centre for Social
Welfare Policy and Research
Berggasse 17 | A-1090
Vienna
www.euro.centre.org
E-Mail:
[email protected]
Thank you
for your attention!