Abstract
In the last decade, all European countries have introduced regimes for care of the elderly as they have striven to adapt to demographic and social change. Meanwhile, labour market reforms have deeply changed the national employment models in which these care regimes are embedded, increasing labour market segmentation and wage inequality. This paper presents an analysis of the impact of these policy changes on the main features of elder-care labour markets. It is argued, first, that the characteristics of each country's elder-care sector mirror the general features of its national employment model. And second, that the way in which care reforms are implemented in the various countries reflects and somehow reinforces the general features of its care regime, in terms of the division of labour between formal and informal care and of the quantity and quality of care work.
Highlights
Different care regimes can be defined in relation to entitlement to care, the role of the state as a funder and provider of services, and the features of the care labour
That the way in which care reforms are implemented in the various countries reflects and somehow reinforces the general features of its care regime, in terms of the division of labour between formal and informal care and of the quantity and quality of care work
By way of comparison with the Labour Force Survey (LFS) data, we provide estimates on elderly care workers for a number of EU countries, drawing on national reports for the Dynamo project (Table 1)
Summary
Different care regimes can be defined in relation to entitlement to care, the role of the state as a funder and provider of services, and the features of the care labour. In the post-communist countries, the process of deinstitutionalisation has resulted in a scanty provision of services; the care sector has undergone considerable decentralisation, with large regional differences and specific problems in rural areas Each of these groupings has considerable internal variation in its features, common trends have emerged as care regimes have striven to adapt to demographic and social changes. With severe problems of financial sustainability cutting across the whole range of care regimes, solutions have been sought in two main directions: a reduction of entitlements – targeting services more closely on the population in greatest need; and a reduction of care costs In their quest for greater efficiency and lower costs, all countries have moved, at different speeds and from very different starting points, towards home care, private provision and cash transfers. Since part-time work is higher in care than in other sectors, the share of care in total employment in full-time equivalents is likely to be overestimated
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