SITUATION OF THOSE WORKING IN ELDERLY CARE IN THE EU AND HUNGARY

Overall, the number of employees in elderly care can be expected to increase by a minimum of 50% by 2030 in the EU, even under unchanged conditions. In Hungary, the average salary of someone working in elderly care is 5% lower than the overall average in the social services sector. Employees would consider a minimum wage increase of at least 50% as fair in the current situation. More than half of employees have second jobs to supplement their earnings. The consequences of staff shortages are manifold: there is less and less time to provide individual care; increasing stress and risk of injury, rising number of patients, faster pace of work, subsitutions and the division of responsibilities, and a lack of time for trade union activity. Resumen del editor: "In the EU, the right to timely access the 'affordable, preventive and curative health care of good quality' and the right to 'affordable long-term services of good quality' are enshrined in the European Pillar of Social Rights (C(2017) 2600 final). The backbone of health and long-term care (LTC) systems' capacity to ensure that EU citizens can exercise these rights is its workforce. The COVID-19 pandemic has put the resilience of national health and LTC systems to the test and has made it even more tangible that 'health is a precondition for our society and economy to function' (COM(2020)724 final). However, even prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, the national health and LTC systems were faced with an unprecedented challenge with regard to the progressive ageing population in the EU. The rise in the number of elderly people has been increasing the demand for health and LTC services which, in turn, has generated a rising demand for a qualified health and LTC workforce. In the period 2018-2030 alone, the EU-27 will need 10.9 million newly trained or imported health and LTC workers to satisfy the rising demand in the health and LTC sectors. Planning a health and LTC workforce that has the size and skills suitable to satisfy the demand is a challenging task, given the numerous and often interrelated factors in play. These factors range from the demographic and health characteristics of a population, a country's economic growth, technology, the migration of health and LTC professionals, to education and retirement policies. This implies a need for a holistic approach in workforce planning, capable of incorporating and coordinating various policy domains at local, national and EU level. Drawing on research activities carried out at the Joint Research Centre (JRC) - specifically within the framework of the Commission's Knowledge Centre on Migration and Demography (KCMD) and the Centre for Advanced Studies HUMAINT project - this report aims to contribute to workforce planning by enhancing the scientific knowledge in three specific domains: demography, migration and digital technology. More specifically, the aim of this report is to provide scientific insights into the role of demographic change, migration and intra-EU mobility, as well as digital technology, in determining the demand and the supply of health and LTC workers in an effort to inform the EU's workforce planning policies." (EU) In the EU, the right to timely access the 'affordable, preventive and curative health care of good quality' and the right to 'affordable long-term services of good quality' are enshrined in the European Pillar of Social Rights (C(2017) 2600 final). The backbone of health and long-term care (LTC) systems' capacity to ensure that EU citizens can exercise these rights is its workforce. The COVID-19 pandemic has put the resilience of national health and LTC systems to the test and has made it even more tangible that 'health is a precondition for our society and economy to function' (COM(2020)724 final). However, even prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, the national health and LTC systems were faced with an unprecedented challenge with regard to the progressive ageing population in the EU. The rise in the number of elderly people has been increasing the demand for health and LTC services which, in turn, has generated a rising demand for a qualified health and LTC workforce. In the period 2018-2030 alone, the EU-27 will need 11 million newly trained or imported health and LTC workers to satisfy the rising demand in the health and LTC sectors. Planning a health and LTC workforce that has the size and skills suitable to satisfy the demand is a challenging task, given the numerous and often interrelated factors in play. These factors range from the demographic and health characteristics of a population, a country's economic growth, technology, the migration of health and LTC professionals, to education and retirement policies. This implies a need for a holistic approach in workforce planning, capable of incorporating and coordinating various policy domains at local, national and EU level. Drawing on research activities carried out at the Joint Research Centre (JRC) - specifically within the framework of the Commission's Knowledge Centre on Migration and Demography (KCMD) and the Centre for Advanced Studies HUMAINT project - this report aims to contribute to workforce planning by enhancing the scientific knowledge in three specific domains: demography, migration and digital technology. More specifically, the aim of this report is to provide scientific insights into the role of demographic change, migration and intra-EU mobility, as well as digital technology, in determining the demand and the supply of health and LTC workers in an effort to inform the EU's workforce planning policies Executive Summary 1 DESK RESEARCH, the situation in the European Union 1.1 Labour force map 1.2 Working conditions 1.3 Policy proposals for decision makers 2 Secondary analysis: Elderly care workers in Hungary 2.1 Methodology 2.2 Employee demographics 2.3 Earnings, second jobs, subjective wellbeing 2.4 Perceived labour shortage, staff turnover 2.5 The physical-emotional strain and danger of work 2.6 Trade Union Membership, Advocacy 3 Results of the interview research 3.1 Staff in institutions: composition, staff shortages, fluctuation 3.2 Material esteem 3.3 Working conditions: schedule, work intensity, physical environment, work equipment, administration 3.4 Health condition, stress, burnout, abuse 3.5 Trade union membership, advocacy 3.6 Covid experiences REFERENCES ABOUT THE AUTHOR IMPRINT