The provision of informal care is an important source of long-term care for older people in Europe. According to the latest available data, between 21% and 43% of the population living in Europe aged 65 and older receive informal care. Given fiscal constraints on public budgets in most of the EU countries and the ageing of the population, it is likely that in the very near future informal care providers will represent the most important source of care for disabled and older people in Europe. This Policy Brief, drawing on the findings of Work Package 3 on Availability and Choice of Care of the ANCIEN project, attempts to analyse the principal determinants of both providing and receiving informal long-term care with a view to designing adequate policies to support caregivers in a sustainable and efficient way.

Sergi Jiménez-Martín is Associate Professor of Economics, University Pompeu Fabra and Director of the FEDEA-LaCaixa Chair on Health Economics at FEDEA (Fundación de Estudios de Economía Aplicada). Raquel Vegas Sánchez is a Research Analyst at FEDEA.