ABSTRACT
The focus of this chapter is the social care and support for older people provided by the voluntary sector. This was chosen as the example of a case in which the sector contributes to society by its involvement in a ‘traditional social welfare field’. There are a number of demographic, economic and social reasons why this field has already increased, and will increase further in policy salience in years to come. The ageing of the world’s population, accompanied by increases in the proportion of older people living alone (linked to rises in divorce/separation and remarriage rates), and continued increases in female labour market participation rates are all likely to limit the capacity of the informal sector to meet social care needs. Caring responsibilities will necessarily shift to formal organizations (Pickard et al., 2000; Wittenberg et al., 2001).
