The main conclusion of this research is that in spite of the noteworthy advances of recent decades, women continue to be the main caregivers for minors as well as for the elderly, disabled or the sick. In general, traditional family care is increasingly more unsustainable, chiefly because of women's incorporation into the workplace and the decrease in the number of housewives, the increase of the aging population, and the increasing age of the caregivers themselves. The study in which these conclusions are specified with more data is published in Volume 28 of the Colecci-n de Estudios Sociales de la Fundaci-n "la Caixa" (Social Studies Collection of the La Caixa Foundation) under the title: "El cuidado de las personas. Un reto para el siglo XXI (Caregiving A 21st Century Challenge". Its authors, Constanza Tob-o, M- Victoria G-mez, M- Silveria Agull- and M- Teresa Mart-n Palomo, are four researchers from the UC3M Department of Political Science and Sociology who have published books and numerous articles in national and international journals in the area of gender studies, family relations, ageing and caregiving.
The study examines the current situation and the future challenges that caregiving presents in our country. The incorporation of women into the workplace and the significant increase in life expectancy are the two main factors which require a new caregiving model that goes beyond the traditional role of the family, and basically the woman, as caregiver. However, for that, infrastructures and professional support services are necessary, which currently are deficient, according to the authors of the report. "There is still a generation of women between 50 and 70 who are available for the care of the elderly and grandchildren, but they too are aging, and the new generations are for a large part, employed in the labor market, Contanza Tob-o, UC3M Full Professor of Sociology pointed out.
The study integrates and interprets the data published by official government and international sources and the findings of the research relating to the caregiving area. One of the aspects that they highlight is that the family, above all, women, continue to be the main support for dependent persons in Spain (30%), just as it does in Greece or in Italy, juxtaposed with that of The Netherlands or Denmark (4%). In this sense, Spain is characterized by the homogeneity of the caregiver's profile: a female in 83% of the cases, with an average age of 52 (20% are more than 65 and almost a third are over 60), married, with primary studies, without a paying job, and in 40% of the cases, the daughter of a dependent. Furthermore, in 77.2% of the cases it is permanent caregiver and 17% have more than one more dependent, minors or an elderly person, under their responsibility, acting as multi-caregiver. (Libro Blanco de la Dependencia, 2005).