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The German long-term care insurance has been introduced 20 years ago and recently reformed, but is still subject to criticism. A continued decline of informal care-giving is indicated by a decreasing percentage of people who receive cash benefits for informal care. It renders the political goal of strengthening informal care unachievable, even though it would contribute to the financial sustainability and a more encompassing approach to care. Referring to socio-demographic developments, the author suggests a capability-oriented policy strategy aiming at the mobilization of resources within the social proximity of the affected elderly. Such a strategy would not only contribute to reduce costs, but would also increase quality of life and public legitimacy. As part of such an approach policy instruments will be discussed that aim at activating and facilitating informal care.

We carried out comparative case studies in eleven German companies and conducted interviews with male employees caring for an elderly parent. The overwhelming majority of the sons claim not to have problems in reconciling work and care, although they spend significant time at care work. In the paper we try to explain this pattern by looking at their typical work and care arrangements. We show that male care is organized all around full time employment.