- Europe faces rapid population ageing, with the share of people 65+ expected to reach record levels by 2050.
- Long-term care (LTC) supports individuals who can no longer manage daily living independently, through health, social, and personal assistance.
- Formal care (paid, trained professionals in hospitals, residential facilities, or community services) is increasingly constrained by issues of availability, affordability, and quality. Waiting lists, high costs, and staff shortages leave many older adults without the support they require.
- Informal care (family members, friends, or neighbours) covers up to 80% of all care needs in Europe yet remains undervalued and invisible.
- Informal care is strongly gendered: women, particularly daughters and daughters-in-law, shoulder most responsibilities.
- Informal care can bring personal fulfilment and skills development, but also carries heavy costs, including emotional strain, financial sacrifice, and negative effects on health and employment.
- Cultural traditions of intergenerational solidarity sustain informal care, but shrinking families make this model unsustainable without proper recognition and support.
- Without resources and respite, family carers face burnout and social isolation, undermining both their wellbeing and the resilience of the care system.
- Informal caregiving is critical for sustaining long-term care systems across Europe but has deep effects on carers’ wellbeing.
- Employment impact: Women are far more likely than men to reduce working hours, work part-time, or exit the workforce prematurely to provide care. This creates persistent gender gaps in employment rates across Europe.
- Physical impact: Caregiving tasks such (lifting, bathing, mobility support) cause musculoskeletal problems, fatigue, and chronic health conditions.
- Emotional impact: Carers experience stress, blurred boundaries, family tensions/ conflicts, social isolation, burnout, and anxiety, and long-term psychological strain, though sometimes stronger family bonds.
- Recognition: Caregiving is frequently regarded as a private, family duty, rarely compensated or formally acknowledged. Lack of training or institutional support reduces the quality of care delivered and affects the wellbeing of carers.
- Financial impact: Unpaid care leads to long-term vulnerability, with many carers (especially women) relying on family resources or limited state aid.
- Cultural expectations: “familistic” norms frame care as women’s duty and institutionalisation as shameful or inappropriate, reinforcing guilt and invisibility of informal caregiving in policy.
