EUROFOUND Report on Unpaid Care Highlights the Key Role of Formal Care Services

EUROFOUND Report on Unpaid Care Highlights the Key Role of Formal Care Services

A EUROFUND report on “Unpaid care in the EU”, published in July 2025, analyses the current situation and characteristics of unpaid carers, the type of care and support they provide, as well as the challenges they face. 

Through the report, it is noted that, oftentimes, unpaid caregivers are driven by obligation rather than by choice, shaped by societal norms and limited availability of affordable care services of good quality. Moreover, accessing formal care services of good quality is key in ensuring caregiving is a genuine choice. Formal care services also play a key role in alleviating the intensity of unpaid caregiving.

However, according to the report, formal care services have not expanded sufficiently to fill the gap created by the reduced supply of unpaid care for adults. Across the EU, 12.6 % of unpaid carers reported accessibility issues with formal childcare services. Some 25.3 % of providers of unpaid long-term care across the EU report not being able to access all necessary services over the preceding three months. Reported reasons for these accessibility issues include affordability, unavailability of services and burdensome administrative processes.

EU Policy initiatives such as the European Care Strategy (2022) and its subsequent Council Recommendations* on childcare and long-term care aim to increase the availability of formal services and to support unpaid carers. 

Regarding the drive towards the deinstitutionalisation of care in the EU, the report states that the end goals of the process of deinstitutionalisation are the facilitation of independent living, the enhancement of social inclusion, and the provision of person-centred care and support that respects the wishes and preferences of the individual in question. It must be noted that deinstitutionalisation of formal care services increases the demand for unpaid care: People living in family- or community-based settings are more likely to be recipients of unpaid care, which is often seen as a cost-effective way of ‘ageing in place’. 

Furthermore, the report calls for improving access to community-based support services to help carers manage their responsibilities and needs. Three main types of community-based services are presented:

• Respite care, allowing carers to take breaks from their caregiving responsibilities helping them to find a temporary replacement.
• Daycare centres, which offer a structured environment for care recipients to receive care and support during the day
• Home care and assistance, which includes various services provided in the home environment, including nursing care and domestic support.

* A Recommendation is a type of non–binding EU act that offers guidance to stakeholders on policy areas in which the EU has limited competences, such as childcare and long term care. Moreover, by setting voluntary goals for the EU or its member states, Recommendations set certain expectations of action by stakeholders.

EUROFOUND Report on “Unpaid Care in the EU” is available here.

EPR Short Briefing on the EU Care Strategy 2022: One year after the adoption is available here.