Ageing

ILC, Caregiving in America
The United States is in the midst of a significant and growing caregiving crisis. About 1.4 million older
Americans live in nursing homes, nearly 6 million receive care at home, and significant numbers go
completely without the help they need. And the growing disparity between the demand and supply of
caregiving services will only worsen with the aging of baby boomers in this country.
Other countries are confronted with the same demographic and social trends that are putting pressure
on the caregiving industry in the United States. But in contrast to Japan, Germany, Austria, and some
Scandinavian countries that reach large shares of their older populations through universal systems of
long-term care, the United States arguably has no caregiving system at all, with its reliance upon
Medicaid, a means-tested program whose benefits vary greatly from state to state.
An underlying combination of ageism and sexism explains in part why the caregiving crisis is receiving
far less attention than it warrants. Older care recipients are deemed disposable and without value,
and women continue to be the primary caregivers of family members. Like other unpaid work, their
contribution to society is not included in national income accounts.

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Semaine bleue
The "day for old people" has been created in 1951 by the health department. A committee, made up of organizations and voluntary groups involved with older people, was asked to organize a collect to assist the most needy older people, and so, 6 years after the end of the 2nd world war.

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