Diversification of care policy measures supporting older people: towards greater flexibility for carers?

Originally part of the private domain of families, care of the older people is now the concern of public policy. Yet, in the
European context of cost containment, it is not easy to make a case for increasing public support and the caring function
of families remains prominent in social policy. In this paper, the authors question public policies around care of the older
people in relation to both the needs of old people, but also those of adult children, mainly women, who work and provide care
for their old parents. We investigate the interactions between public support in long-term care and the caring function of
families. The paper presents some results of a comparative research study based on the identification of the policy measures
which have been implemented in different European countries in the sector of care of the older people, and on the detailed
analysis of care arrangements set up by a sample of 86 family carers in these various national contexts. We argue that in
a context of cost containment, whatever the usual patterns of care and the role given to the family and public authorities,
the policy measures which have been introduced since the 90s aim to support family carers in various ways with the common
objective of giving them the flexibility they need in the organisation of care arrangements, combining various resources (formal
professional care, unpaid informal care, semi-formal care). Different patterns of flexibility can be identified according
to the regulation of the policy measures.