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Care Poverty: When Older People’s Needs Remain Unmet
This open access book turns the research attention of social policy scholars and long-term care researchers from comparative descriptions of care systems, focusing mostly on expenditures and volumes of long-term care services, to outcomes, and in particular to the question whether older people really receive the support that they need. Without knowledge about which needs and which social groups are currently inadequately covered, it is impossible to guide policy development.
The book puts forward a novel theoretical framework to guide future research work and public discussion on the issue of unmet long-term care needs, by broadening the current discussion so that inadequate care is seen in its societal and policy contexts, taking structural issues and policy designs into account. Kröger outlines three different domains of care poverty (personal care poverty, practical care poverty and socio-emotional care poverty) and differentiates between main methods how unmet needs are measured. This book summarises the existing knowledge on the prevalence, factors and consequences of unmet care needs and interprets these comparatively in the light of social inequalities and care policy models of different welfare states. It will be invaluable to students and scholars of social policy, social work, social gerontology, sociology and political science, and to all disciplines across the field of social sciences that study welfare state policies and care for older people.
The book puts forward a novel theoretical framework to guide future research work and public discussion on the issue of unmet long-term care needs, by broadening the current discussion so that inadequate care is seen in its societal and policy contexts, taking structural issues and policy designs into account. Kröger outlines three different domains of care poverty (personal care poverty, practical care poverty and socio-emotional care poverty) and differentiates between main methods how unmet needs are measured. This book summarises the existing knowledge on the prevalence, factors and consequences of unmet care needs and interprets these comparatively in the light of social inequalities and care policy models of different welfare states. It will be invaluable to students and scholars of social policy, social work, social gerontology, sociology and political science, and to all disciplines across the field of social sciences that study welfare state policies and care for older people.
302 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 3, 2022
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February 19, 2026
Research on long-term care is fragmented. This book provides a very useful international overview and synthesis of studies of whether the care older people receive is sufficient for their needs (very often, it isn't). The concept of 'care poverty' (i.e. having unmet needs for care) gives the book coherence without being a straightjacket. It discusses rates of care poverty, factors and consequences of care poverty and how care poverty is linked to other social inequalities. The focus is not on the systems of long-term care, i.e. the services and benefits provided by the government.
The book is written in an accessible and non-technical way. Another nice thing is that it is not just an academic exercise. Teppo Krögers concern about older people who live in misery because they lack the care they need permeates the text.
Finally, the book can be downloaded free of charge from the publisher!
The book is written in an accessible and non-technical way. Another nice thing is that it is not just an academic exercise. Teppo Krögers concern about older people who live in misery because they lack the care they need permeates the text.
Finally, the book can be downloaded free of charge from the publisher!
Displaying 1 of 1 review