EU Data
Data date of extract 08/2024
🇪🇺 EU Level
| Demographic | The share of the population above 65 years old in the EU is expected to
increase from 20% in 2019 to 29% by 2080 and the percentage of people above 80 years will more than
double to 13% in that time. A rapidly ageing population leads to an ever-growing need for long-term
formal and informal care.
Link/source: EIGE (2019) Gender equality and Long-Term Care at home |
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| In 2017, one in four people in the EU had a long-term disability, a greater number of that group
being women (27%) than men (22%).
Link/source: EIGE (2019) Gender equality and Long-Term Care at home |
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| In the EU, while women enjoy a higher life expectancy – 83.5 years compared to
78.3 years for men (a difference of 5.2 years in 2017) – this advantage is partially offset by the
fact that women spend more years in ill health. According to data from 2016, for example, women in
the EU spent, on average, approximately 20 years of their lives in poor health compared to 16 years
for men.
Link/source: EIGE (2019) Gender equality and Long-Term Care at home |
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| In 2014, an average of 20% women and 14% of men aged 75 and over in the EU used
home care services.
Link/source: EIGE (2019) Gender equality and Long-Term Care at home |
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| Employment in care work | Around 6.2 million people were professional care workers in 2022,
accounting for
around 3% of total EU employment.
Link/Source: Eurofund (2020)”Long-term care workforce: Employment and working conditions” |
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| Across the EU, 12% of people aged 18 years or over who care for one
or more disabled or infirm family member, neighbour or friend, of any age, more than twice a
week.
Link/Source: Eurofound EQLS 2020 |
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| While the population aged 65 or over will grow by 23% until 2035, the
projected employment growth in the care sector is just 7%.
Link/Source: CEDEFOP (2023) Care workers: skills opportunities and challenges |
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| 150.000 care worker jobs were lost. Employment fully rebounded in the
following years, and by the end of 2022, it had 316 thousand workers above the pre-COVID-19
level.
Link/Source: Eurofund (2020)”Long-term care workforce: Employment and working conditions” |
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| Professional care workers are mainly women. In 2021, only 12% of care
workers were men.
Link/Source: Eurofund (2020)”Long-term care workforce: Employment and working conditions” |
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| Women represent 62% of all people providing informal long-term care
to older people or people with disabilities in the EU.
Link/Source: Eurofund (2020)”Long-term care workforce: Employment and working conditions” |
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| 2 in 5 (42%) LTC workers work part-time, double the rate for the
entire workforce (19%). Many do so because they cannot find full-time work (30% in
non-residential LTC, 20% in residential LTC).
Link/Source: Eurofund (2020)”Long-term care workforce: Employment and working conditions” |
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| 7 in 10 (71%) LTC workers indicate that they always ‘have the feeling
of doing useful work’, which is more than in healthcare (66%) and in the entire workforce
(50%).
Link/Source: Eurofund (2020)”Long-term care workforce: Employment and working conditions” |
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| The number of persons potentially in need of
LTC in the EU27 is projected to rise from 30.8 million in 2019 to 33.7 million in 2030 and,
further, to 38.1 million in 2050. On average, 26.6% of people aged 65 or over living in private
households needed LTC in 2019.
Link/Source: Caritas (2023) Growing old with dignity |
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| The challenges of long-term care in Europe | ||
| The number of people aged over 80 years will climb from over 57
million in 2016 to over 1.2 billion in 2050 in 37 OECD countries. Keeping the current ratio of
five LTC workers for every 100 people aged 65 and older across OECD countries would imply that
the number of workers in the sector will need to increase by 13.5 million by 2040.
Link/Source: WHO “Progress report on the United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing,2021-2023” |
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| Most professional care workers – 68% in 2021 – are employed in the
health and social care sector.
Link/Source: CEDEFOP(2023) “Handling change with care” |
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| The employment of professional care workers is projected
to increase between 2022 and 2035 slightly increase between 2022 and 2035
Link/Source: CEDEFOP(2023) “Handling change with care” |
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| Training and Education | Nearly 2 out of 3 of professional care workers (65%) attained a
qualification
level of ISCED 3 and 4 in 2021, equivalent to the level achieved after completing upper
secondary education. The occupation’s qualification level is not expected to change over the
period to 2035.
Link/Source: CEDEFOP (2023)Care workers: skills opportunities and challenges |
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| 2 in 3 personal care workers hold medium-level qualifications, while
nurses typically have a diploma at a higher level (OECD, 2020). A notable share of care workers
has only completed elementary education (19% in 2022).
Link/Source: CEDEFOP (2023)Care workers: skills opportunities and challenges |
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| Skills and knowledge that care employers want
(2022):- Transversal skills (adaptability;
teamwork; language skills);
– Task-related skills (working with
computers; planning and scheduling; providing assistance and care to people; managing and
coordinating);
– Soft skills (problem-solving;
coordinating activities with others; assume responsibility).
Link/Source: CEDEFOP (2023)Care workers: skills opportunities and challenges |
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| Quality of care | Two-fifths (40%) of LTC workers report lifting or moving people more than
three-quarters of the time (compared with 5% of all workers and 23% in healthcare). Many LTC workers
report handling infectious materials. LTC workers are less likely than healthcare workers to feel
well informed about health and safety.
Link/Source: Eurofund (2022) COVID-19 and older people: Impact on their lives, support and care. |
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| In the EU, about 1 in 5 care recipients aged more than 50 had difficulty obtaining adequate care from outside the household during the pandemic. Countries with longer stay-at-home orders had more unmet needs.Link/Source: Eurofund (2022) COVID-19 and older people: Impact on their lives, support and care. | |
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| Many LTC providers already use or are looking for ways to implement simple
technologies such as alarm systems, fall sensors, and GPS tracking of the movement of elderly
citizens in residential facilities or at home. Mobile devices with health apps can also support
remote monitoring of the elderly and may reduce time spent by workers in promoting patients’
self-care skills.
Link/Source: OECD (2020) Empowering the health workforce Strategies to make the most of the digital revolution |
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| Emerging trends | Low-tech e-healthcare (such as phone consultations) improved access to
healthcare,
but 56% of people aged 50+ who required a consultation still opted for face-to-face
consultations, as they preferred this over available e-healthcare options. 49% of people aged
50+ who used e-healthcare felt it did not fully meet their needs. In long-term care, the role of
e-care remains limited.
Link/Source: Eurofund (2022) COVID-19 and older people: Impact on their lives, support and care |
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| In platform work within LTC, an online platform is used to enable
organizations or individuals seeking to provide LTC services with those needing assistance.
Compensation is based on the completion of individual tasks or projects rather than continuous
employment.
Link/Source: Eurofund (2022) COVID-19 and older people: Impact on their lives, support and care |
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Disclaimer
“Not all LTC is provided by paid professionals, and it is important to reflect that informal carers are also part of the LTC workforce. Informal carers are defined as any person who provides – usually – unpaid care to someone with a chronic illness, disability or other long-lasting health or care need, outside a professional or formal framework. This typically includes family members, partners/spouses, friends and neighbours. Informal carers are sometimes referred to as family carers, or unpaid carers, depending on the context.”
