Long term-care protection for older persons
27
Figure 10. LTC Staff access deficits as percentage of the population aged 65+, selected European
countries, 2015 Threshold 4.2 formal LTC workers FTE per 100 persons aged 65+
Source: ILO estimates, 2015; OECD, 2014.
3.2.3. The reliance on unpaid informal LTC workers is unacceptable
While formal LTC workers are at the centre of the few international debates that exist on LTC, they are only providing a small percentage of the bulk of care giving currently
provided: In some countries, such as Austria, it is estimated that about 80 per cent of care is covered informally BMASK, 2011. The very high numbers of informal care workers
reflect the gaps in the formal workforce.
Informal LTC services are carried out by paid andor unpaid LTC workers that work in private homes and are not declared to tax or social security authorities. This group
includes professional workers as well as family members, neighbours, friends and others. Reasons for informally employing LTC workers in private homes are often related to
the severe gaps in availability of formal LTC workers and the high costs and difficult administrative procedures involved in private employment of formal LTC workers. Thus,
the reliance upon informal LTC workers often arises from the absence or under funding of publ
ic LTC schemes. It often results in impoverishment of the “employers” – older persons andor their families
– despite low wage payments. Figure 11 provides an overview of the number of currently available informal care
workers per 100 persons aged 65 years of more. The wide range within regions is striking. In the Americas, for example the United
States we find nearly 123 informal LTC workers per 100 persons aged 65+ as compared to about half of this number
– some 61 informal LTC workers – in Canada. In Asia and the Pacific, countries such as Australia have nearly 84 informal care workers per 100 aged
65 years and older as compared to 4.8 in New Zealand. In Europe, figures range from just 2.3 informal care workers per 100 older persons in Denmark compared to as many as
nearly 145 informal care workers in the Netherlands.
49.4 73.5
22.9 56.6
90.4 73.5
10 20
30 40
50 60
70 80
90 100
