CURRENT STATISTICS
65+
By 2050, the global population aged 65 and older is expected to double. This demographic shift makes strong care systems not a policy choice, but an essential social infrastructure.
75%
More than 75% of long-term care is provided by unpaid family members. This places significant emotional, physical, and financial pressures on caregivers, particularly those balancing care responsibilities across multiple generations.
%30
People who reduce their working hours or leave the workforce to provide care for older adults, the majority of whom are women, lose an estimated 30% of their lifetime earnings and retirement benefits on average.
CURRENT CARE POLICIES
Care Policy Recommendations Tool
At İhtimam, we curate emerging care policy recommendations and translate them into practical guidance for different stakeholders. Select a stakeholder group and thematic area to explore relevant policy recommendations, strategies, and actions from Türkiye and around the world.
THE FUTURE OF CARE
Care Radar
The Care Radar tracks emerging developments, weak signals, and evolving conversations across the care landscape. It is designed to help us understand how care is changing and to explore these shifts through an ethical and systems-oriented lens.
Accelerating Population Aging and the Care Gap
Life expectancy continues to rise while fertility rates decline. The older adult population is growing rapidly, but care systems and infrastructures are not expanding at the same pace. Elder care is becoming a permanent and systemic challenge rather than an exceptional need.
The Expansion of Long-Term Care Needs
Increasing rates of dementia and chronic illness are transforming elder care from a short-term response into a long-term commitment. Care often extends over many years, while social protection systems, workplaces, and public services struggle to adapt to these realities.
The Rise of Aging in Place Policies
Many countries are encouraging older adults to remain in their own homes for as long as possible. While aging in place can support autonomy and quality of life, it often transfers significant care responsibilities to families. The home is increasingly becoming both a place of living and a primary site of care provision.
Older Adults as Caregivers
A growing number of older adults provide care for spouses, relatives, or peers. Many people in later life are simultaneously managing their own health needs while supporting others, creating an often overlooked double burden of care.
The Growth of Migrant Care Work
Migrant women are playing an increasingly important role in paid elder care across many countries. Global care chains are becoming more visible within long-term care systems, while concerns around labor rights, precarity, and inequality continue to grow.
Digital Monitoring and Remote Care Systems
Sensors, smart watches, and home monitoring technologies are increasingly used to support safety and independent living. While these tools offer new possibilities, they often create additional responsibilities for family members who must manage, interpret, and respond to digital information. Care technology may transform care work rather than reduce it.
Social Robots and AI Companionship
Social robots and AI-powered conversational systems are being tested as tools to address loneliness and provide emotional support. While these technologies promise greater connection and assistance, questions remain about whether relational and human dimensions of care can truly be replicated.
Normalizing End-of-Life Planning
Conversations about aging, death, and end-of-life care are becoming more open. Advance care planning, end-of-life preferences, and death doula practices are gaining visibility, although access remains uneven and cultural barriers continue to shape participation.
Community-Based Elder Care Models
Neighborhood care hubs, intergenerational living arrangements, and cooperative housing models are experimenting with new ways of organizing care collectively. These approaches offer promising alternatives to isolated care arrangements, though many remain small-scale and vulnerable to funding and policy constraints.
