Ensuring adequate funding to secure sustainable and adequate funding for elder care, given the growing demand for care, support and suitable housing, is a challenge faced by governments around the world.

The European Ageing Network (EAN) has published its final report on funding elderly care, addressing one of the most pressing challenges facing ageing societies across Europe: “Towards a Framework for Sustainable, Equitable, and Responsible Funding of Elderly Care in the E.U.” Public responsibility for care remains the cornerstone of our expectations of government systems. Yet, the report suggests, we must also recognize the growing need for “complementary, sustainable, and ethically guided models of private and commercial engagement.”

The report details funding mechanisms currently in place in European countries, Japan, the U.S., and Australia. There is a range of models: publicly funded, private and mixed models as well as insurance models. And, whatever the model, it is acknowledged that there is a significant disparity in elder care services between EU member states.

Authors affirm that in circumstances where governments and public providers are unable to implement effective solutions in the short to medium term, “there is an obligation to consider and develop an equitable, transparent, and broadly acceptable framework for private and commercial financing of elderly care.”

This approach should not diminish public responsibility, but rather function as a supplement to leverage additional resources while upholding the essential principles of equity, inclusion, and the recognition of care as a public good.

This report does not provide a single blueprint, but rather a framework of principles, models, and practical recommendations that can guide policymakers, care providers, and investors alike. As Jiri Horecky, Director of the European Ageing Network and one of the primary authors of the report put it, “This report serves as a call to action for building fair, sustainable, person-centered support for long term care in Europe. It is both urgent and complex, requiring careful consideration of equity among older persons, dignity for all persons and sustainability of systems.”