In Germany, the introduction of Long-Term Care Insurance in the 1990s, resulted in a noticeable movement towards the professionalisation of care activities. The expansion of social care services is accompanied by requests to develop and maintain higher quality standards. Parallel to this, the emphasised economic principle of cost limitation impedes the professionalisation of the occupation and shows contradictory results. In contrast to Sweden, social care for the elderly is still seen as a private and public activity, which impedes the establishment of an occupational status of the activity. From a social-political perspective, the form of expansion and professionalisation of social care for the elderly is accompanied by social inequality within the group of predominantly female carers and care receivers.