Elderly care constitutes one of the government’s main spending items, amounting to more than 18 billion euros annually. Costs, aging and staff shortages will only increase in the coming years. How are political parties in the Netherlands preparing for this?

Trade organization Actiz points out that political parties do not make clear choices in their election manifestos. “There are many people who have justified or unjustified expectations for health care, which can no longer be met as we used to,” the organization’s president, Anke Westerlaken, wrote earlier this week. “This requires real political solutions.”

The organization means that less care will be provided in the future and people will have to do more and contribute on their own. More family members and environment will also be requested in the future.

Actiz is not the only organization that sees this problem as urgent, as report after report warns of the consequences of an aging population. This is what officials at the Ministry of Health concluded one day advice Doing nothing is not an option.

Spending is an issue, and is expected to rise to $36 billion in 2040. But it is just as urgent: demand for care is growing while supply is not. For example, the number of people over the age of 80 will nearly double by 2040, so more health care providers are needed. But at the same time, the labor market is becoming tighter, and there will be fewer potential informal caregivers per older person in the future.

Political parties pay attention to the care of the elderly in their programs. Much has been written about informal caregivers. Almost all parties want to do something to support informal carers. ChristenUnie points out that sooner or later everyone will have to deal with informal care, which is why there must be more space, says party leader Miriam Becker.

“They should get time off more easily. We should encourage more care for each other, but how do you fix that when it’s rush hour in your life?” She says medical care should remain with specialists.

Many parties also want to build more homes for the elderly and ease the administrative burden on healthcare staff.

But the two sides have different views on what elder care should look like in the future. For example, left-wing parties, such as the PSOE, Groenelinks/PVDA, BIJ1, and the HDP, want to overturn the system and significantly reduce market forces. This allows you to increase wages, for example. D66 also wants less market forces.

In cooperation with VVD, D66 wants to focus on more technology in the healthcare field to partly compensate for the growing staff shortage.

D66 leader Rob Gittin admits tough choices will have to be made. That’s why he believes no more money should be spent on health care. “We actually have to organize more ourselves. Not everything is possible, and the elderly have to live at home longer.”

Labor migration has also been proposed as part of the solution, for example by Volt and the BBB.

Some parties, such as the BBB, JA21 and PVV, want to restore nursing homes, with or without a modern look. When asked if this was financially possible, BBB’er Nicki Pouw-Verweij said they chose to invest. “We think it’s necessary and will save money in the long run.”

The platforms of political parties are full of different plans, which Aktis believes are positive, “but the real story about the aging population and how we as a society will deal with the challenges is missing.”