Nordic Research Project on Sustainable Elder Care
How can the Nordic countries meet the challenge of future elder care as populations age and the workforce shrinks? That is the central question in a new research project funded by NordForsk. David Seim, Professor of Economics at Stockholm University, is leading the Swedish part of the project.
The NordForsk grant amounts to 13 million Danish kroner, and the project brings together researchers from Sweden, Norway, and Denmark.
”We are examining how the Nordic countries can develop long-term sustainable systems for elder care. We analyze both demand – what types of care families want and are willing to pay for – and supply – how we can recruit and retain qualified staff,” says David Seim.
“We want to generate new insights and policy tools”
In OECD countries, the proportion of people over the age of 80 is expected to double by 2050. For the Nordic welfare states, this means that both families and governments will need to find new solutions to ensure older people receive the care they need.
”By combining large-scale surveys with unique register data from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, we want to generate new insights and policy tools to balance costs, quality, and accessibility in elder care,” Seim explains.
Cross-border collaboration
The project, ”Determinants of Demand and Supply of Elder Care: Pathways to Sustainable Care Systems”, examines the key factors influencing elder care demand and supply in Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. The aim is to provide evidence-based policy recommendations for sustainable, cost-effective, and high-quality care systems.
The collaboration involves researchers with expertise in public policy, health economics, labor markets, and survey design from Stockholm University, the Norwegian School of Economics, and the University of Copenhagen.
”We are a larger group of researchers working on this project. Some parts will focus on the Swedish context, while others will be carried out in Denmark and Norway,” says Seim.
By combining data-driven analysis with policy-relevant questions, the project hopes not only to contribute to the academic research frontier but also to provide concrete recommendations for policymakers.
Last updated: October 3, 2025
Source: Department of Economics