News

Last week we were invited to present our views on the Commission’s document on Long Term Care (LTC) to the Interest Group on Carers at the European Parliament. This document is part of the Social Investment Package.

Valentina Caimi, Policy Advisor, highlighted that this document is a big step from the Commission in acknowledging the precious contribution brought by informal carers, who have been invisible so far, with very little recognition and support. We hope that Social Platform’s recommendations on care (which included a chapter on the rights of informal and family carers, as well as on the recognition and support they need) have inspired the Commission in this direction.

What is very positive is the recognition that informal LTC has costs for both informal carers and the economy: this questions the general view that informal care has no direct cost to the public budget. In fact when it is not a free choice, informal carers are often obliged to reduce time at work or give up working with consequences on their social security and pension rights that might lead to poverty; also when it is a free choice, informal carers need a legal recognition and support. In most member states policy and legal frameworks are not adequate to respond to this. The costs for the economy mean lower rates in employment, less taxes and social contributions.

She has also stressed that the whole Package, including the document on LTC, often presents social investment as an economic argument by ignoring fundamental rights independently of labour market participation.

The Commission’s document considers LTC mainly in relation to older people, while LTC is also for people with disabilities, with mental health problems and other needs. This is particularly crucial when addressing the challenge of increasing capacity for independent living. Independent living policies are crucial not only for older people, but also for people with disabilities, with mental health problems or with other needs. The policies and measures to increase the capacity for independent living have to be linked with and put in the frame of processes of de-institutionalisation and creation of community-based care services. Users’ organisations need to be involved in this policy process.

Among the challenges that the Commission’s document identifies for LTC, we consider that the issue of affordability of LTC is not properly addressed. Even if the focus of the Social Investment Package is not on employment, we think that the potential of employment creation in the care and social sectors could have been stressed more. However you cannot have investment if the jobs created are of low quality.