Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Who looks after the elderly?

 3 million elderly people are receiving care across Germany. By 2060, that figure is expected to reach 4.5 million.
With an aging population and a lack of carers for the elderly, Germany is fast approaching a care crisis. Across the care sector, some 36,000 positions are currently unfilled — 15,000 of them in elderly care alone. According to the study "Deutsches Pflegethermometer 2018" only one-third of old age care facilities even announce when job openings come up, as the chances of finding an applicant are so slim. Last year, on average, it took 171 days to fill a position in elderly care.  On average, for every 100 open job positions in elderly care, there are only 21 job-seekers. In the states of Saxony and Rhineland-Palatinate, however, it can be as few as just 13.
Low wages in relation to carers' workload has also pushed applicants away. According to Destatis, Germany's Federal Office for Statistics, carers with three years of training earn, on average, €18 ($21) per hour (gross, full-time). On average, workers in Germany earn €22 per hour. The regional differences are also big.
Yet there are is a waiting list of migrants hoping to find work in Germany.

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