Long-term care financing: supporting informal long-term caregivers

Overview

One key aspect of long-term care (LTC) is the large number of informal caregivers who support older people in activities of daily living (i.e. bathing, toileting, dressing, mobility, eating, and continence). Many are family members or friends.

Informal caregivers are present in all countries, and they substitute for formal LTC services in low- and middle-income countries, where there are few or no publicly funded LTC services.

Countries have estimated that the value of informal caregiving to the economy ranges from 0.8% to 4.9% of gross domestic product annually. These estimates are based on the value of the time that informal caregivers spend providing care and the losses from reduced hours of paid work and productivity.