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Italy is characterized by a very high and increasing demand for elder care but, paradoxically, also by a surprisingly low level of public service provision in this sector. Due to current demographic, economic and socio-cultural trends, the potential availability of informal family care has been decreasing while, on the other hand, still strong familistic attitudes have so far limited the emergence of formal—both home and residential—care services. The ‘cash-for-care’ orientation of the Italian welfare system, with direct payments prevailing over in-kind services, has thus gradually developed into a care regime where monetary transfers to dependent (older) people are often used to privately employ migrant care workers. This phenomenon is analyzed in the context of two different studies (EUROFAMCARE and DIPO), in order to understand how migrant care work has been affecting both family care and professional care work …