How Many Older Informal Caregivers Are There in Europe? Comparison of Estimates of Their Prevalence from Three European Surveys

Abstract

Informal caregivers are people providing some type of unpaid, ongoing assistance to a person with a chronic illness or disability. Long-term care measures and policies cannot take place without taking into account the quantitatively crucial role played by informal caregivers. We use the European Health Interview Survey (EHIS), the European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS), and the Study on Health and Ageing in Europe (SHARE) to measure the prevalence of informal caregivers in the European population, and analyze associated socio-demographic factors. This rate ranges between about 13 percent in Portugal and Spain, and more than 22 percent in Luxembourg, Belgium, and Denmark. It declines in older age groups and, on average, is lower in men than in women in all countries studied, and lower among the poorly educated compared to those with higher levels of education. However, large variance was observed in the average share of informal caregivers for most countries between the three surveys. Our findings, estimated through the three surveys, reveal common trends, but also a series of disparities. Additional research will be needed to enable policy makers to access a richer and more harmonized body of data, allowing them to adopt truly evidence-based and targeted policies and interventions in this field.

Impact of the Outbreak of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Formal and Informal Care of Community-Dwelling Older Adults: Cross-National Clustering of Empirical Evidence from 23 Countries

“…In the EU, a large number of people take care of ill, elderly, and/or disabled relatives [12]. Indeed, available estimates suggesting that as much as 80% of all long-term care is provided by informal caregivers, whose numbers range from 10% to 25% of the total population [25] with average rates that vary significantly between countries, among groups of countries, and depending on how informal care is defined and measured [26][27][28]. Therefore, long-term care services in the community cannot be delivered unless the quantitatively crucial role of informal caregiving, alongside formal care, is taken into account.…”

Socio-Economic Predictors of Hiring Live-In Migrant Care Workers to Support Community Dwelling Older Adults with Long-Term Care Needs: Recent Evidence from a Central Italian Region

“…Italy's ageing population, reliance on live-in MCWs to provide LTC, and a lack of alternative formal care services raise some concerns around equality in access of care for the estimated 2.6 million older adults with LTC needs in Italy, especially for those who are not able to afford to hire a live-in MCW or do not receive informal care [7,10,11,42]. Ensuring that all adults can access affordable quality care in the setting they prefer is a crucial step in the development of a sustainable care market in Italy [43].…”

“…It was estimated that 16.4 percent of the Italian population aged 15 years or older provide informal care, with 85.4 percent of these informal caregivers providing care for a family member [9,10]. Another study by Tur-Sinai et al [11] estimated that between 13.66 and 20.02 percent of adults 50 years or older are informal caregivers.…”

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“…The client services have to be time sensitive as the health conditions continue to deteriorate by using services that test their physical and cognitive capabilities to create value, such as reducing client falls or engaging in activities that improve cognition [ 33 , 34 ]. The role of caregivers, informal as well as specialized, is growing, and the challenge is to create cohesion between the services provided by the healthcare provider and other actors while addressing risks [ 35 , 36 , 37 ]. Providing reliable information and supporting trust building opportunities are key to engender the trust of clients in seeking such services.…”