European Pillar of Social Rights principle 18 on 'long-term care' and the European Care Strategy are the focus of the latest Euronews’ Real Economy episode.

For this episode, Euronews travels to Slovakia, a country where the need for long-term care over the next decades is expected to increase by 52 per cent - double the EU average increase. To address the challenges of an ageing population, 1.6 million more care workers will be needed by 2050 in the EU.

The episode includes interviews with elderly people in need of care, as well as care-givers who are involved in a newly set up community social service centre that benefits from EU social funding. The objective is to bring together social, health providers and municipalities to offer more and better quality services to elderly people.

‘This way we can accumulate more funds and be able to pay enough carers, and possibly motivate more people to start social work’, explains project manager Pavel Červienka.

The episode highlights ESF+ investments and includes an interview with Ivailo Kalfin, Executive Director of Eurofound who explains what the biggest challenges for long-term care are in Europe, how to attract more care workers and how to provide better support for informal carers who help family members grow old with dignity.