Arriving in Italy in 2010, Oleksandra Dzhevegeska, 50 years old, of Ukrainian nationality, belongs to the carers, these caregivers who accompany the elderly of an aging country. The number of these caregivers, overwhelmingly women, was estimated at 1.07 million in 2022. Essential cogs in transalpine society, immigrants in nearly 70% of cases, they are, for the most part, from Eastern Europe, Latin America or the Philippines and destined to welcome a growing number of recruits into their ranks.
Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers Italy: accelerated ageing and its consequences
Add to your selections
“There is always a demand for carers. The family of the lady I look after very often asks me to find candidates for relatives or acquaintances. It works by word of mouth., explains Mme Dzhevegeska, a 24-hour employee of a 91-year-old woman from Rome, directs them to her contacts in a Ukrainian community that has seen a new wave of women seeking work since the Russian aggression in February 2022, while Italy’s demographic indicators are more alarming than ever.
The most ageing state in Europe, with an average age of 48 according to Eurostat, the European statistics agency, Italy has 24.1% of seniors over 65 years old on its territory. Their number represents 37.4% of the working-age population, another European record. The country also recorded in 2023 the lowest number of births since its unification in 1861 with 379,000 newborns, 3.6% less than the previous year, the fifteenth decline since 2008.
“Lack of sufficient tax incentive”
In the Peninsula, the young are disappearing, the old are becoming more numerous and they need assistance. ” THE carers are a fundamental pillar of the Italian system, between the culture of family care for seniors and the inadequacy of public services”, “We are very grateful for the support we have received from our colleagues at Bocconi University in Milan,” says Elisabetta Notarnicola, a researcher specializing in social policies and associate professor at Bocconi University in Milan. “In the absence of public investment, the demand for carers is bound to increase.”
Much of the supply that could meet this need is abroad. The 2024 edition of the report prepared by the Assindatcolf association, which represents the interests of employers in the sector, together with the IDOS research centre on migration issues, estimates that in 2025 Italy will need almost 2.3 million home workers, including over 1.5 million foreigners. These figures take into account the irregular share of the market, estimated at 53.5% in 2021, between black market work and “grey” work. when only part of the hours worked are declared. “In the absence of sufficient tax incentives, informal work is the only option for many families”, says Andrea Zini, president of Assindatcolf.
You have 22.85% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.
