Long-term care financing: Supporting workers in the formal long-term care system

Overview

Governments dedicate a large share of their long-term care (LTC) budgets to workers, given that it is a highly labour-intensive service sector. The majority of workers in the formal LTC system provide personal care services, and most are women, across all regions and countries, regardless of the level of development.

Educational and training requirements for workers who provide personal care services vary widely across settings, from none to standardized training. Minimum educational and licensure requirements are more typical for nursing professionals in LTC.

Considerably higher numbers of LTC workers will be needed in the future because of increasing demand from growing numbers of older persons who may face high levels of disability; in addition, lower fertility ratios will result in fewer family caregivers.