The Economic Value of Non-professional Care: A Europe-Wide Analysis

Background  This paper had two aims. Firstly, to provide a broader view of the profile of non-professional caregivers in Europe, and secondly, to estimate the economic value of the non-professional caregiving.Methods  The European Quality of Life Survey ۲۰۱۶/۲۰۱۷, carried out by Eurofound, was used. The target population of the survey was adults who care for a relative or friend in a total of ۳۳ European countries. The opportunity cost method was used to estimate the economic value of caregiving, in which two of the activities forgone were analysed: paid activities (restricted to caregivers who were employed), for which the average gross wage of each country was used; and unpaid activities, for which the minimum gross wage of each country was used.Results  There were more than ۷۶ million non-professional caregivers in Europe that provide care for a relative or friend. This figure represents ۱۲.۷% of the population in Europe. The estimated time devoted to non-professional care in Europe reached ۷۲ ۳۰۱.۵ million hours in ۲۰۱۶. Sharp differences were found among countries. The economic value of that time is estimated at ۵۷۶ ۰۰۰ million of euros, which represented about ۳.۶۳% of Europe’s gross domestic product (GDP).Conclusion  This study shows the very important number of resources dedicated to the non-professional care of dependent people and their economic valuation. These results may be helpful in prospective analyses estimating future needs on professional and non-professional and for designing of long-term care (LTC) policies in Europe.

کلیدواژه ها:

Non-professional Care ، Economic Valuation ، Europe ، Caregiving ، Family Care ، Informal Care