Abstract
The aim of this article is to introduce a systematic, structured conceptual framework for the comparative analysis of welfare-state reform policies towards long-term senior care and the care structures in a cross-European perspective. A welfare state’s policies on the long-term care of senior citizens frame the different aspects of their care: the care options of the older people, the employment situation of the different types of caregivers and the care quality. The actual structure of senior care is mainly based on the specific care-provision mix in a welfare state and on the main types of care employment. It is should not, however, be treated as a direct outcome of care policies in analyses of welfare-state policies, since the care recipients and care givers all act within the broader framework of the complex and often contradictory cultural, institutional, social and economic context—the specific ‘care arrangement’ of a country.
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Acknowledgments
I thank Dorly Deeg, Tine Rostgaard, Hans-Werner Wahl and Minna Zechner for their very useful comments on a previous version of this article, and Franz Zurbrugg for his very helpful support with English language corrections.
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Responsible Editors: T. Rostgaard & M. Zechner (guest editors) and H.-W. Wahl.
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Pfau-Effinger, B. Analyses of welfare-state reform policies towards long-term senior care in a cross-European perspective. Eur J Ageing 9, 151–154 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-012-0233-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-012-0233-9