By: Staff Writer
October 2, 2026
The Inter-American Development Bank in a recent report on the importance of caregivers said that the number of people aged 65 and over who need support to carry out everyday activities could triple by 2050 in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).
The report, “WHO CARES? How to Support and Ensure Recognition for Caregivers for Older People in Latin America and the Caribbean,” also said that about eight million individuals over age 65 currently require help with daily activities, from basic tasks like eating and bathing to more complex responsibilities such as managing medications and finances.
“This number is projected to nearly triple to 23 million by 2050 due to longer lifespans and the growing prevalence of chronic diseases. Under this shift, the traditional model of family-based, unpaid care provided mainly by women becomes unsustainable.”
The LAC will soon face a crisis in the supply of both paid and unpaid carers. “By 2050, the demand for family long-term care will more than double, putting pressure on the labour force.”
The report continued: “Factors like declining fertility, increased female workforce participation, and more dispersed families will exacerbate the crisis by reducing the potential number of family caregivers. While a few countries have developed national long-term care systems, most of the region has incipient public long-term care services; unregulated, not-for-profit care arrangements; and expensive private options. The current workforce of three million paid caregivers will need to expand to approximately 14 million by 2050 to meet the growing demand for care.”
The unequal distribution of unpaid care between women and men continues to take its toll. Unpaid caregiving remains widespread, with nearly 25 million caregivers in the region spending an average of 7.5 hours per week providing care to older relatives.
To keep pace with demographic trends, this number will need to grow to 60.5 million by 2050. Unpaid care responsibilities are not shared equally: nearly 60 percent of caregivers are women. Women also spend more time on intensive, less flexible tasks like bathing and feeding, and they provide more “passive caregiving,” meaning they simultaneously supervise dependents and do other tasks. This limits their time for paid work or rest.
Care, therefore, has several dimensions. It is material because it involves concrete activities such as feeding, hygiene, accompanying or assisting another person. It is economic because these tasks require time and resources and generate direct and indirect costs. And it is also affective because it develops through relationships between those who provide care and those who receive it.
But there are two fundamental elements to understanding its scope. First, care is a relationship of interdependence. Second, the roles of caregiver and care recipient are not permanent. Throughout our lives, we all provide care and receive care.