How does the EU frame gender and care of fragile, older people? Polyphony, Tensions and silencing

Care have traditionally been considered as belonging to the nation state and the family, where EU as an institution has not interfered. However, old age care is since 2017 a right according to § 18 of the European pillar of social rights, and in 2022 EU launched an ambitious, new care strategy covering elderly, fragile persons.
We investigate the way the political problem of old age and elderly care is understood in EU, and the needs identified through a feminist discursive policy analysis. Our analysis focuses upon problematization, care needs, intersectionality, and silencing. It identifies the way the greying of the population and elderly care has been politicized and emerged as a new policy field within the EU. It poses the following research question: In what way has ageing and care for elderly people been framed as a political problem for EU?
The material analysed is from the period 2013-2021 and is intended to give a snapshot of the discourse. The empirical material consists of policy papers by the president, commission, and policy reports. We identify a polyphonic discourse that includes feminist elements and gender stereotypes, as well as silencing. It applies neoliberal rationales with paternalistic elements.