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Cited by 6Nursing care and researchIntergenerational Family Dynamics and CaregivingAging, Elder Care, and Social Issues

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 43 of the 44 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

What is the care economy? A scoping review on current evidence, challenges, facilitators and future opportunities

Open access
Blackberry, I., Boak, J., Barclay, K., Khalil, H.·2025·Frontiers in Public Health
DOI 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1540009PMC PMC12116328
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Abstract

Background: The care economy gained its prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic. The value and impact of caregiving, mostly shouldered by women, was not as visible until such crisis point. Health care and social support sectors represent the largest and fastest growing industry globally. This scoping review aims to elucidate the current state of play in the care economy, where there is a great reliance on informal and formal care workforce to deliver care for populations across all age groups and abilities. Methods: Following Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology and PRISMA-SCR reporting guidance, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Campbell collaboration database, Social Science Abstracts, Library and Information Science Abstracts (LISA) and Scopus. Quantitative and qualitative original research on disability, aged care, early childhood education and care, rural, veterans, migrants and informal and formal care workforce from January 2018 until November 2023 were examined. Results: Of 354 studies selected, 20% were from the United States of America, 11% each were from China and the United Kingdom. Most studies employed cross-sectional design. A quarter of the studies included adults aged 65 years and above while 6% were adults aged 18 to 64 years. These age groups combined were included in an additional 27% of studies. Women were overrepresented in 70% of the studies. Nearly two-thirds of caregivers were spouses or partners. Barriers to providing care were lack of education, support and monitoring of caregiver well-being, loss of income or ability to earn money, reduced social life and increased out-of-pocket costs. Gaps in research included migrant populations' contribution to the care economy, gender and diversity inequality in the care economy. The care economy could be improved through providing education for caregivers, care workforce engaging with caregivers in the care plan, and governments' overhaul of compensation for caregivers through direct financial support and employment benefits. Conclusion: The care economy is an emerging research area. There continues to be a paucity of research evidence across some geographical areas. Studies are mostly short term or small scale with very little evidence around the value of care. Given the growing aging population, more research is needed to elucidate the positive aspects of caring by formal and informal care workforce to the population, society and economy. Protocol registration: The protocol is registered with Open Science Framework (10.17605). "Definitions, key themes and aspects of the care economy-a scoping review protocol," https://osf.io/ypmuh.

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  • Many participants believe that high-quality older adult care services require not only government support but also the effective promotion of market mechanisms.

    “The qualitative results (e.g., “3.3.4.3 Silver economy promoting more comprehensive older adult care services”) indicate that many participants believe that high-quality older adult care services require not only government support but also the effective promotion of market mechanisms (84).”

    From Caring alone: older adult care burdens, practices, and structural imbalances among China's one-child generation (2025) · cites this paper as [84]

    The Discussion (‘The economics of care’; page not supplied) calls for government support and sustainable care models, which supports one part of the claim. The paper is a scoping review, however, and the passages do not report qualitative participants believing that high-quality older-adult care also requires the promotion of market mechanisms. (LLM, conf=0.80)

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1 of the 44 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 14

  1. 2022, Toward a resilient care ecosystem in Asia and the Pacific promising practices, lessons learned, and pathways for action on decent care work, Asia Foundation
  2. 2021, Building forward better: action to strengthen the 2030 agenda for sustainable development, Econ Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean
  3. 2025, The Care Economy: Understanding the Scope, Significance and Impact for Society and Sustainable Growth [press release]
  4. 2023, Draft National Care and support economy strategy care and support economy taskforce, 1
  5. Sternfels, 2021, Our future lives and livelihoods: Sustainable and inclusive and growing
  6. Biden, 2023, Executive order 14095-increasing access to high-quality care and supporting caregivers, 1
  7. 2023, Working Future: The Australian Government’s White Paper on Jobs and Opportunities, 1
  8. Barnes, 2022, The global care economy
  9. 2022, A toolkit on paid and unpaid care work: From 3Rs to 5Rs
  10. 2022, Global wage report 2022–23: The impact of inflation and COVID-19 on wages and purchasing power
  11. Fenney, 2023, Caring in a complex world: Perspectives from unpaid carers and the organisations that support them
  12. 2020, Supporting and sustaining the home care workforce to meet the growing need for long-term care
  13. 2018, iSupport for dementia: Training and support manual for carers of people with dementia
  14. Carney, 2020, Caregiving (in the twenty-first century), 1

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Metadata

Authors
Blackberry, I., Boak, J., Barclay, K., & Khalil, H.
Affiliations
La Trobe University (AU)
Corresponding author
Blackberry, I.
ORCID
Venue
Frontiers in Public Health
Publisher
Frontiers Media SA
Published
2025-05-14
Volume
13
Pages
1540009-1540009
ISSN
2296-2565 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3389/fpubh.2025.1540009
PMC
PMC12116328
OpenAlex
W4410380794
Cited by
6
References
44
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 2
FWCI
0.60
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Frontiers in Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Nursing › Research and Theory › Nursing care and research
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving
  • Social Sciences › Life-span and Life-course Studies › Aging, Elder Care, and Social Issues
Keywords
care economy, informal care, caregiver well-being, caregiver burden, gender inequality in caregiving, elderly care, disability care, early childhood education and care, rural health care, veterans, migrant care workers, caregiver compensation, COVID-19 pandemic, population aging, caregiver education, out-of-pocket costs, spousal caregivers, barriers to care delivery, value of care, social support
MeSH terms
COVID-19, Adult, Aged, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Caregivers

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