30 October carers’ day · 2024 data
Living with someone who needs care: almost 11 hours a week on average for people aged 65 or over
In Swiss households where an adult needs particular care, people aged 65 or over reported an average of 10.9 hours a week caring for an adult at home. The figure was 7.2 hours among those aged 15 to 64. Helpore's comparison uses the Federal Statistical Office's 2024 unpaid work data.
A national comparison
Older people can be giving care, too
Older people can be the people giving care at home, not only receiving it. Support for a household needs to consider that person too.
Mean hours per week caring for an adult at home, by age group
Two horizontal bars compare 10.9 mean hours per week for people aged 65 or over with 7.2 mean hours per week for people aged 15 to 64.
Both bars begin at zero and use the same 12 hour scale.
These averages are for permanent residents aged 15 or over living in households with an adult aged 18 or over who needs particular care. They include everyone in the age groups within those households, not only active carers.
Source: Swiss Federal Statistical Office, 2024 unpaid work data.
Inspect the official source cells
Official source cells
Inspect the exact official values used for the comparison.
- Official source
- Federal Statistical Office table: Time spent on unpaid work by type of activity or organisation in hours per week
- Reference population
- These averages are for permanent residents aged 15 or over living in households with an adult aged 18 or over who needs particular care. They include everyone in the age groups within those households, not only active carers.
- Measurement period
- 2024
- Source published
- 4 June 2025
- Definition
- Mean weekly time looking after, helping or transporting an adult needing particular care in the same household; not nursing alone and not general housework.
- Source file SHA 256
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- Selected official cell
- Age 65 or over
- mean hours per week
- 10.914833
- Shown in the chart
- 10.9 hours
Official cells used in the comparison
| Age group | Exact source value | Chart value | Measure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age 65 or over | 10.914833 | 10.9 hours | Mean weekly time caring for an adult in the same household |
| Age 15 to 64 | 7.179766 | 7.2 hours | Mean weekly time caring for an adult in the same household |
“We talk a lot about helping older people stay at home. We should pay just as much attention to the older person who may already be caring for someone there.”
Gilberto de la Fuente, Helpore
Why publish this now
A day to recognise the person giving care
Geneva announced a campaign across nine cantons on 20 October 2026. Ahead of carers’ day on 30 October, the campaign asks people to recognise the caring role and seek available support. The 2024 figures are not a new measurement released for the campaign.
What the figures do and do not show
In 2024, people aged 65 or over living with an adult who needed particular care reported an average of 10.9 hours of adult care at home per week. The average for ages 15 to 64 was 7.2 hours. These averages cover the age groups in those households, not only active carers.
The Federal Statistical Office measure is mean weekly time looking after, helping or transporting an adult needing particular care in the same household. It is not nursing alone and not general housework.
The age groups are compared within the same household reference population. The source does not isolate active carers, so these figures are not the average workload among active carers only. No canton breakdown exists.
This is a descriptive cross section, not a trend or a claim of causation or statistical significance.
Measurement period: 2024. Source published: 4 June 2025.
