France singled out. The problems of the sector of assistance to the elderly are common to a large number of countries, but France is distinguished by particularly marked understaffing, analyzes an OECD report published on Monday.
The sector "suffers from understaffing and it is likely that it will worsen in the future", alarms the OECD. In three-quarters of the organization's countries, between 2011 and 2016, the growth in the number of employees was lower than that of the population over 65 years of age.
To catch up, the number of employees in the sector "will therefore have to increase by 60% by 2040" in OECD countries, in order to "maintain the current ratio between the number of carers and the number of elderly people, "calculated these experts.
Staff must increase by 90% to catch up
In France, however, the problem is even more marked, since there are only 2.3 employees per 100 people over the age of 65, against 5 employees per 100 seniors on average in 28 OECD countries. Consequently, the workforce in France should not increase by 60%, but by 90% within 20 years.
In 11 countries of this international organization, the employees of retirement homes and home help for the elderly are paid significantly less than nursing assistants in hospitals: their median salary is 9 euros per hour, against 14 euros in hospitals, detail the experts from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
They also insist on the particularly poor working conditions of French employees: 85% of them say "being exposed to physical or mental risk factors", and 15% say they have suffered from accidents "leading to injuries", a rate twice the OECD average.
Lack of measures to help older adults stay well
This report, prepared before the Covid-19 pandemic, also looks at the “structural weaknesses of the sector”, highlighted during the health crisis. Experts are alarmed in particular by "insufficient coordination with the rest of the health system".
Newsletter - Essential news
Every morning, the news seen by Le ParisienI'm registering
Your email address is collected by Le Parisien to allow you to receive our news and commercial offers. Find out more
However, such coordination makes it possible to better take care of the “multiple chronic diseases” from which some seniors suffer, and to “reduce the risks of unnecessary hospitalizations”, say the authors. They also deplore that "very few countries" have developed activities to "help the elderly to age well" or "regain their independence in the event of a disability".