Caregivers

Health

Background

The population ageing which is affecting all European countries will result in an increase in the number of older people and, as a consequence, of people who will be affected by some kind of disability. The need to provide proper care for these people is a major challenge that our society has to face. Currently, 80% of long‑term care in Europe is provided by informal carers, who are mostly family members of the person in need of care. The working and living conditions of informal carers are often extremely tough and the work they do is taken for granted.

Many informal caregivers, a majority of whom are women, are forced to give up their jobs to take care of their family member, and face many difficulties in finding a new job or returning to their previous one. This reduces their standard of living and their income, exposing them to higher risk of poverty, isolation, marginalisation and poor mental and physical health.

Key points:

In the opinion, the EESC calls on:

  • the Commission to put the topic of informal carers high on the political agenda and to establish a Platform for the exchange of best practices among Member States;
  • Member States to adopt policies that i) encourage the provision and uptake of high-quality, community-based long-term care services, and ii) ensure that informal carers have access to respite services and preventive medicine to tackle the high risk of burnout and physical and mental overload to which they are exposed;
  • Member States to take appropriate measures to ensure that the decision to take on informal care is voluntary, that gender inequalities are tackled and that informal carers can keep their jobs and levels of pay thanks to more flexible working conditions and can easily re-enter the job market if they are forced to leave it.

The text of the draft opinion can be found here.

Additional information

Section: Employment, Social Affairs and Citizenship (SOC)

Opinion number: SOC/761

Opinion type: Own-initiative opinion

Rapporteur: Pietro Vittorio Barbieri

Reference: Rule 52(2) of the Rules of Procedure

Date of adoption by section: 25/6/2024

Result of the vote: 91 in favour/ 3 against/ 5 abstentions

Date of adoption in plenary: 10/7/2024 – 11/7/2024

Result of the vote in plenary: 186 in favour/ 1 against / 3 abstentions

Contacts:

Press officer: Simran Grewal/Laura Lui          

Tel.: 00 32 2 546 9189

Email: Simran.Grewal@eesc.europa.eu/ laurairena.lui@eesc.europa.eu

 

Administrator: Valeria Atzori

Tel.: +32 2 546 8774

Email: Valeria.Atzori@eesc.europa.eu

Work organisation