A special collective agreement for informal carers

Why was this example implemented?

In Spain, 21% of informal carers (437,000 of 2 million  in 2008) (INE, 2010) do not have a steady job as they spend more than 40 hours a week in their caring role (Carretero et al., 2009). The Spanish Dependency Law, which came into force on January 2007, established a new economic provision regulation to support informal carers. This provision obliges informal carers to be included as beneficiaries in the Spanish social security system, filling this gap.

The target group are informal carers who are caring for a person with care needs at home, with whom they have a family relationship. The older person’s needs have to be officially assessed (according to the "Dependency Law") and the care plan requires the support of an informal carer.

Description

In Spain, social security is guaranteed by the Spanish Constitution of 1978. The "Dependency Law" permits the inclusion of informal carers in the social security system. For this reason and with the aim of standardising and regulating informal carer’s access to the Social Security System and their related rights, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs created the Special Collective Agreement for informal carers of dependent people. This collective agreement is regulated by the Royal Decree 615/2007. 

At the moment, the contribution that employed people pay to the social security system, regulated by the "Dependency Law", corresponds to the minimum established by the Social Security System and it was set in 2010  at €162.49 per month.

The conditions established in article 14.4 of Law 39/2006 to obtain economic assistance for care in a family environment are:

• Living with a person in need of care - the home has to have certain living conditions (total accessibility to the house, secure gas and electricity installations, good hygiene and cleanliness of the house).
• The Individual Care Programme of the older person with care needs includes the need for aids.
• The person with care needs receives economic aid and pays the carer directly.

The care should always be offered at home and it should be adapted to the needs of the older person and his/her level of needs. According to the "Law of Dependency", it is recommended that informal carers receive training for this.

Informal carers must meet the following requirements:

• Be over 18 years.
• Reside legally in Spain.
• Must be the spouse or a blood-relative.
• Be able to provide care under ideal conditions that are not linked to a professional service and are given in a continuous way. 
• Fulfill the conditions of affiliation, registration and contribution to Social Security.

What are/were the effects?

The financial assistance regulated by the "Dependency Law" is quite low (between €300 and €520 per month) as well as the contribution to the social security system. For these reasons the final outcome of the action is not as beneficial as it could be for carers.

However, this measure is a step forward because it recognises the work of carers and their caring activities as a valued role for society. Additionally, it reduces the burden on informal carers and decreases their feelings of insecurity.

In 2010 the economic provision for informal carers by the Dependency Law represented nearly 50% of the total expenditure provided by this law. In fact, by the end of 2010, 385,000 informal carers received the aforementioned economic provision.

The main social impacts are the regulation of the labour situation of informal carers who become citizens contributing to the social security  system, and the decrease of unemployment rates, in a genuine desire to support carers. The measure also creates a potential saving in social and health costs, as people with a need for care can stay longer in their home with their caring families.

What are the strengths and limitations?

Strengths

• This is a first step in providing security to informal carers and to improve their present and future situations.
• Recognition of the importance of the role of informal carers.

Weaknesses

• The inclusion of informal carers in this agreement is restricted to those who care for older people with care needs who are entitled to the ‘economic benefit for care in the family setting’ of the "Dependency Law".
• The economic provision and also the contribution to the social security system are low. As this measure is primarily financial, this does not consider psychological support which is strongly needed by informal carers.
• Even though the training for informal carers is considered by the Dependency Law, it is not fully implemented. This training is important for the quality of care given and for the health of the informal carers.

Opportunities

• The measure allows access to the services provided by the social security system.
• The example paves the way for the recognition of informal carers as workers (since wages are so low, should be considered the minimum wage policy) and for the development of other programmes for them such as psychosocial intervention programmes.

Threats

• The current economic situation and the existing problems found in the implementation of the "Dependency Law" in Spain makes access to the economic provisions difficult for all informal carers and, thus, their inclusion in the social security system. Even though the rights of people with care needs to care is recognised by the Law, we do not know how many new informal carers will benefit from this aid.  

Credits

Author: Jorge Garcés, Univesity of Valencia (Spain) – Polibienestar Research Institute
Reviewer 1: Georg Ruppe
Reviewer 2: Jon Glasby/Jenny Billings
Verified by:

Links to other INTERLINKS practice examples

• Direct payments for informal carers
• Funding for home help for caregivers (CASTILLA Y LEON)
• Social protection of informal carers

External Links and References

Contact

• http://www.seg-social.es/Internet_1/index.htm

Policy documents

• Royal Decree 615/2007 that regulates Social Security for informal caregivers of dependent people.
• Royal Decree 374/2010, about economic provisions of Law 39/2006 for 2010.
• Law 39/2006 for the Promotion of the Personal Autonomy and Attendance to Dependent People

Published articles

• Carretero, S./Garcés, J./Rodenas, F./San José, V. (2009) 'The informal carer’s burden of dependent people: Theory and empirical review' in: Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, Vol. 49: 74-79.

Web-based documents

• Vidriales, R./de Araoz, I./Beotas, J.L./López, J.M./Marrero, R./Rodríguez, A. (2009) Análisis de los desarrollos normativos del Sistema para la Autonomía y Atención a la Dependencia. CERMI. Madrid

Public institution webpage

• IMSERSO, 2010. System for the Autonomy and Attendance to Dependence. 
• INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE ESTADÍSTICA - INE (2010) Encuesta sobre discapacidades.