On 23 January 2018 we attended the presentation of the report “Boosting Social Investment in Social Infrastructure in Europe”, drafted by the High-Level Task Force on Investing in Social Infrastructure in Europe. The presentation took place at the Charlemagne building of the European Commission in Brussels.
The report assesses the levels of public and private investment in social infrastructure across Europe, including long-term care. It also estimates the existing gaps in investment, meaning the difference between current levels and those that would be needed in order to properly address the demand for services.
One of the key societal developments that the authors take into account is demographic ageing and the subsequent increase in care needs. According to their calculations, and taking into account current low levels of investment, long-term care is the sector where the gap is most considerable, given both the increasing needs and the progressive shift from informal to formal care that different stakeholders – including AGE – are calling for. The investment gap in long-term care reaches, according to the report, 50 billion euros per year: such additional investment is needed to meet the care needs of Europeans.
The report proposes solutions such as developing community-based care, strengthening prevention and investing further in the care workforce, among others. It also highlights that investments in long-term care are “safe”, which contradicts an earlier statement in the report that increasing spending in long-term care “impl[ies] a substantial fiscal risk”.
Jyrki Katainen, Vice-President of the European Commission, took the floor to highlight that his teams will look into the report and take the recommendations into account.
You can consult the report here.
