Care

Increasing emphasis on independent living and social inclusion is driving deinstitutionalisation – the shift away from a reliance on residential institutions towards family- and community-based settings for the provision of care and services. The aim is to ensure that people at risk of marginalisation have opportunities to participate fully in society and to exercise their personal rights and freedoms. An institutional culture that gives rise to social isolation and loss of autonomy can be present in any care setting, but it is commonplace in long-stay residential institutions such as children’s homes and nursing homes. Although deinstitutionalisation strategies have been adopted across the EU, shortcomings are apparent. This report presents evidence on changes in the extent of institutional living in the EU over time, as well as information on national deinstitutionalisation strategies and practices. It includes two person-centred case studies that illustrate the benefits of deinstitutionalisation and greater social inclusion and the challenges encountered in efforts towards these goals.

The European Child Guarantee was established in 2021 to ensure that children in need have access to a set of key services. This policy brief analyses trends and disparities in children’s access to early childhood education and care, education, healthcare, nutrition and housing. This is done using a convergence analysis, which tracks whether Member States are improving in respect of specific performance indicators and whether disparities between them are expanding or narrowing. The analysis, where possible, also looks at the differences between urban and rural areas and between children living in households with different levels of income and risk of social exclusion. The indicators chosen for analysis highlight the links between the Guarantee, the European Semester and the Social Scoreboard.

This report captures the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the quality of life of older citizens, including the impact on their well-being, finances, employment and social inclusion. It explores the effects on the use of care services and older people’s reliance on other support. The report presents policy measures that have been implemented in EU Member States to support older people along all of the above-mentioned dimensions. These include measures to support independent living and schemes to support the labour market integration of older people or to prevent unemployment, all of which play a role in the quality of life of older citizens.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a dramatic impact on the accessibility of health, education and care services for all Europeans. This is also the case for children, who in several countries have seen their schools closed and replaced with remote learning. They have been affected, too, by the pandemic’s negative impact on their families’ access to healthcare and their mental health. Many families have also experienced rising housing insecurity. The Child Guarantee aims to ensure access to these resources for children in need.
Over 2020, Eurofound gathered wide-ranging data on Europeans’ lives during the pandemic. Based on this data, this policy brief documents changes in the accessibility of education, healthcare and housing in the EU27 between 2018–2019 and the summer of 2020, so that these developments can be taken into account when designing policy responses and mitigating measures.