Addressing knowledge gaps in relation to the long-term care workforce : policy brief

One of the aims of the European care strategy is to improve the working conditions for long-term care (LTC) workers - to be understood here as professionals who provide formal LTC, which can take the form of home care, community-based care (e.g. day centres for respite care) or residential care. Such a goal is strategic, as it affects both the quality of care provision, given that LTC is a labour-intensive sector, and the quality of jobs. The LTC sector accounts for a substantial number of jobs. In 2023, about 3.1 million workers in the EU were employed in the LTC sector, equal to 1.5% of total employment (2023 Eurostat's EU Labour Force Survey [EU-LFS], Eurostat calculation). The most common occupational groups in LTC labour markets are nurses and personal care workers delivering residential care or home care. Domestic (including live-in) LTC workers are also present in Member States. The share of staff working in residential care and home care varies among countries, with a majority of workers still employed in residential care in most but, at the same time, an increase in employment in private households. The LTC labour market contains mostly workers with a medium educational level, although the increasingly complex skills required in the sector point to the need to improve initial and continuing training and qualifications. Labour shortages are a major challenge in all Member States, and labour shortages in this sector are among the most acute in the EU labour market as a whole. Wages and other indicators of job quality are low when compared to healthcare and the average situation of workers in the whole economy.