Informal care is typically defined as unpaid care/help provided to older persons with a chronic illness, disability or other long-lasting health problem or care need by family, close relatives, friends or neighbours.



Data selection

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  Northern Continental Southern Eastern Total
Women 50-64
Women 65+
Men 50-64
Men 65+

Note: Own calculations based on SHARE data release 7.0.0. Caution should be taken when interpreting changes in prevalence between points as the x-axis is not to scale. Data for *wave 3 (2008/09, SHARELIFE) are not available as respondents are not asked about any informal caregiving they provide. As a result, the data point for wave 3 is averaged between the data for waves 2 (2006/07) and 4 (2011/12). Data for wave 7 (2017, SHARELIFE) are also unavailable for similar reasons. Due to insufficient consistent data for all countries comprising the Eastern cluster for 2013, these data points are averaged between 2011 and 2015. Sample sizes of countries should be considered when interpreting trends for total women and men. Sample sizes by region are as follows: Total (n=99,884); Northern (n=21,539): Sweden (n=8,437), Netherlands (n=8,498), Denmark (n=4,603); Continental (n=43,537): Austria (n=1,911), Germany (n=21,827), France (n=15,352), Switzerland (n=1,815), Belgium (n=2,631); Southern (n=21,866): Spain (n=8,671), Italy (n=13,194); Eastern (n=12,942): Czech Republic (n=3,593), Poland (n=9,348). For further inquiries concerning the data, please contact us at futuregen@euro.centre.org.


To cite the graphs, please use the following citation, substituting the title of the graph and access date as appropriate:
FutureGen Data Navigator (2021). Prevalence of informal caregiving by gender and age (Aged 50-64/65+ years). Based on data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. Accessed [insert date here] from https://futuregen.euro.centre.org/data-navigator/