Maigul Nugmanova

Narxoz University, Kazakhstan

Title: Elder Care System in Kazakhstan: a Path to Employment Promotion

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Biography

Abstract

The country has made significant progress in establishing a legal framework for elder care system, and implementing comprehensive reforms aimed at improving employment rates, citizens well-being, and strengthening social protection. The estimated doubling of the share of Kazakhstan's older people over 65 is expected to significantly increase the demand for care services and put additional strain on the elder care sector. The focus of state elder care policy is on older people living alone and people with disabilities. Statutory responsibility for caring for older people falls on their children, in the absence of any support from the state/employers. The elder care system in Kazakhstan is the least developed sector of the care economy, but it is very important, as a source of new jobs, increased employment, population’s welfare and country’s economic growth. 

We analyze institutional care provided by public and private institutions, public and private in-home care provided by social workers and paid care workers, and unpaid in-home care provided to older relatives by children/spouses to understand the effectiveness of existing care policies, as well as the relationship of socio-cultural norms and traditional gender roles to the dominant types of care in the country and discuss the potential impact of expanded care services on employment. The dominant type of elder care is unpaid in-home care, mainly provided by women, while institutional and paid care makes up an insignificant share. We find that low quality and unaccessibility of institutional services for all elderly people in need of care, as well as unaffordability of paid care services for the most of elderly, gender roles and society mentality are among the factors contributing to this situation. Most caregivers do not want to place their elderly parents to nursing homes, and the elderly themselves do not want to live there for a number of reasons. Family caregivers would prefer to have state financial support/provision and help from social workers / paid care workers in providing adequate care at home. The analysis of the legal framework governing the elder care helped to identify gaps in care legislation that affect the redistribution of unpaid work and women's participation in the workforce. These findings indicate the need to advance a comprehensive long-term elder care state policy that takes into account in-home family caregivers support, as well as residential care services and day care services development.