Five organizations have launched the ninth edition of the initiative "Soy Mayor, Soy Como Tú", with which they urge political parties and the future Government that emerges from the November 29 elections to "consolidate and advance in investment in care", which, in their view, "should rise in the coming years to at least 2 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)".
With this request, the entities pursue "to guarantee the continuity of compliance with the amendment of the laws on Disability and on the Promotion of Personal Autonomy and Care for people in a situation of dependency (LAPAD), approved in September of this year by the Cortes Generales, in a context in which investment in care is around 1 percent", and they propose doubling it "in the face of the progressive aging of the Spanish population, linked in turn to a foreseeable increase in situations of dependency, loss of autonomy and chronic diseases".
Coinciding with the commemoration, this Thursday, October 29, of the International Day of Care and Support, Envejecimiento en Red –dependent on the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)–, together with the foundations Grandes Amigos, Pilares para la Autonomía Personal and Matia Fundazioa, and HelpAge International España, have warned that, even with that increase, the budgetary effort would still be "far" from that of the countries in our environment.
They have stressed that "this firm commitment to care must become a matter of State, regardless of the result of the elections", and have underlined that "the objective of building an authentic 'care society' requires a structural and sustained leap in public funding". In this line, they join the initiative promoted a little over a year ago by the experts on older people Pura Díaz Veiga and Gabriel Gallardo, who achieved nearly 40,000 support signatures on the "Change.org" platform.
After emphasizing that the funds must be allocated "to older people, to caregivers and to the improvement of support and services", the organizations point out the need to move "toward a model of comprehensive and person-centered care". In their view, "a final-purpose management of these funds by the public Administrations and the companies in the sector should have repercussions in more humane, community-based and dignified care".
Likewise, the campaign focuses on recognizing "the deeply feminized reality of the sector, sustained mostly by women who, both in the professional and family spheres, assume essential tasks for society that continue to be insufficiently valued and remunerated, often in precarious working conditions and at the cost of personal, social and economic sacrifices".
Data on aging, care and financing
The initiative also provides figures on the current scenario, recalling that in 2026 the number of older people has exceeded the threshold of 10 million (10,178,625), which represents 20.7 percent of the population and will exceed 30 percent in 2050, according to the National Statistics Institute (INE). "In just 50 years, we have doubled the number of older people," it emphasizes, while, with data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), it highlights that the percentage of people aged 65 or older who receive long-term care has doubled in a decade, rising from 6.8 percent in 2013 to 14.9 percent in 2023.
The organizations recall that "the vast majority of the support received by people over 65 - between 80 and 90 percent, depending on the severity of their functional limitations - is provided by informal caregivers", and warn that "the precarization of those who work in care is one of the most obvious consequences of the problem".
In their view, "if this underfunding were to continue in the medium to long term, it would prevent care for a growing number of people, reduce waiting times in access to benefits, improve the range of resources and dignify the working conditions of those who perform care tasks, both formally and informally". They add, moreover, that strengthening this area "constitutes a lever for economic growth, job creation and tax return", since "every euro invested in care generates 1.6 euros in GDP".
They insist that "if Spain strengthened the resources dedicated to home care and community prevention of health and mobility problems, it would make it possible to save health care and pharmaceutical costs associated with the lack of early detection and treatment of diseases, hospital admissions, institutionalization of people, treatments for new ailments and chronic pathologies, etc.".
Finally, the signatory organizations appeal "to society as a whole" for "a cultural change in how care is perceived." "In a world marked by individualism and ageism, it becomes necessary to recognize that all individuals will need care sooner or later, as well as the importance of guaranteeing a dignified life for older people," they conclude.