Long-term care and migrant care work: addressing workforce shortages while raising questions for European countries

Long-term care (LTC) is highly labour intensive and will likely remain so in the future. Meeting growing demand for LTC from an ageing population will therefore depend on the ability to recruit and retain sufficient numbers of carers, whether in formal settings or within homes. Many European countries have responded to this challenge by employing a considerable number of carers from other countries, whether from Europe or beyond. This raises a number of important issues for policy and practice for both source and host countries, but social policies specifically regulating this type of service provision are rarely adopted.