Informal care is not free: its economic value is equivalent to at least 22 billion euros per year in the Netherlands, shows a recent study.

What is the economic value of informal carers’ contribution to the society in the Netherlands?  The question has been answered by a recent study commissioned by the national carers’ organisation ManterlzorgNL. In total, five million informal carers spent 1.5 billion hours on informal care in 2019. This corresponds to 850,000 full-time working years. In total, according to research by Ecorys, the value of informal carers amounts to 22 billion euros, consisting of 20 billion hours devoted to informal care and 1.8 billion euros spent by informal carers, such as travel costs. Should informal carers be fully replaced by professionals carers,  the so called replacement value of their contribution would amount to 32billion to 44 billion euros.

Failure of an informal caregiver quickly leads to higher costs for the society. Supporting them pays off, concludes the research, available on ManterlzorgNL website.