Introduction

Throughout the 20th century, dependency and the need for care traditionally constituted a neglected social risk by most European welfare states. In the Fordist society, the social division of care conceived the family as the leading actor in charge of caring for dependent family members. At the same time, state intervention was relegated to assistance measures for specific, limited circumstances, such as lack of family ties, poverty, or a very high degree of disability (Ranci & Pavolini, 2013). Entitlement to receive care ‘was framed implicitly as an entitlement to be cared for by a female family member. It certainly did not result in a social right’ (Saraceno, 2008: p 2).

During the last three decades, however, demographic and social transformations and economic considerations created a ‘problem pressure’ (Ferrera, 2005) no longer negligible for European welfare states. On the one hand, the share of older people steadily increased over the last decades (Eurostat, 2022). In 2021, people aged 65+ represented more than one-fifth (20.8 per cent) of the population in the EU, against 17.6 per cent in 2011. The old-age dependency ratio, which measures the relation between the population aged 65+ and the working-age population (15– 64 years), was 33.5 per cent in January 2021, compared to 26.4 per cent in 2011. According to the latest population projections, those aged 65+ will account for 31.3 per cent of the EU's population by 2100, and the old-age dependency ratio is projected to almost double, reaching 57.1 per cent in 2100.