The domestic and home care sector: answering the structural weakness of EU member states’ care systems

Structuring the domestic and home care sector is the only way to reach the Care […]

18/01/2023

Structuring the domestic and home care sector is the only way to reach the Care strategy targets of quality, affordability and accessibility of care services. 

In its Care strategy, released on 7 September 2022, the European Commission recognises the role of home care and community-based services in the care policy mix and the role of informal carers in responding to the care needs in the European Union. 

The domestic and home care sector – or as the EC calls it, Personal and Household Services (PHS) – provides essential services enabling elderly people to pursue a good and dignified life, in their own homes, and remain actors of their life. PHS help them to carry out activities of daily living (direct care activities), to remain socially active and maintain bonds with their family and community. Furthermore, they also contribute to the instrumental activities of daily life (indirect care activities), allowing the care recipients to have a good living environment in their own homes. The combination of both direct and indirect care work allows people in need of care to be fully comfortable in their own homes, and their place of living is equally considered. In the area of childcare, childminders and childcare workers at home take care of young children’s care needs, be it full-time care from birth to three years old, or be it after-school care for older children. 

Domestic and home care will be key to meeting the care needs in Europe in the coming decades. Usually highly stigmatised and prone to stereotypes, the sector still suffers from a lack of recognition. For this recognition, a real change in mentalities is needed. It deserves revalorisation, and recognition of its high societal, social and economic value. More attractive jobs in the sector will be key to responding to the lack of labour force, which is mainly due to poor working conditions and the retirement of domestic and care workers. The care sector and more specifically the domestic and home care services are also faced with high levels of undeclared work. Indeed, because of high labour costs, and the lack of public investment, it cannot develop to its full potential in the formal labour market.

Households choose not to declare domestic and care workers when the employment prices for undeclared work are significantly more affordable than those on the declared market. However, having professional PHS workers providing home care for people in need of long-term care and support can enable informal carers to better balance their work-life equilibrium and allow women – who often undertake such caring responsibilities – to return to, or enter, the labour market.

Concerning childcare, most parents need diversification of childcare arrangements: both collective and individual childcare should be structured, developed, affordable and implemented to respond to parents’ needs. Nowadays, in many EU countries, parents resort to undeclared work because they do not have access to diversified childcare arrangements, and they need to find solutions fitting with their work-life balance and care needs. Individual childcare arrangements represent a third option between collective childcare and women at home taking care of their children. It’s a complementary tailor-made solution adaptable to parents with night shifts or long, early and late working hours, which are not covered by collective childcare facilities. This is particularly the case for parents working in the medical and healthcare sector themselves. In this context, allowing parents to directly hire childminders or childcare workers of their choice through direct employment can increase women’s participation in the labour market. It would also help create declared jobs with social rights in the sector. In this case, it is necessary to invest in the development and adaptation of the essential skills that are required to ensure quality, especially to meet the challenges of educating very young children at home.

The European Care strategy is the first positive step. Now, member states must implement it in their national action, while considering the domestic and home care sector to reach the objectives of affordability, quality and accessibility of care services in the coming decades. 

At present, PHS stakeholders are insufficiently organised and recognised. This hinders the development of a virtuous approach towards the aim of raising qualifications, training requirements and wages, improving working conditions and health and safety at work, and strengthening sectoral collective bargaining. This will only be possible with the support of member states to promote capacity building of national social partners in the PHS sector.

Photo credits: Phovoir/Shutterstock

Find all related publications
Publications
21/09/2023

A European Health Union

A blueprint for generations
07/09/2023

European perceptions of public programmes for zero unemployment

Online survey and qualitative interviews: The results
01/09/2023

Bidding farewell to workfare?

Recovery Watch series
31/05/2023

Is the digital transition a lever for structural reforms or does it reinforce the divide?

Recovery Watch series
Find all related events
Events
Upcoming
10/10/2023
Online

Enhancing sustainable long-term care

Care4Care Policy Series
Past
04/09/2023
Online (Expert meeting)

An EU-wide programme for local jobs initiatives

Online coalition meeting
01/07/2023
Dąbrowa Górnicza, Poland

Intergenerational solidarity

Challenges for Social Democracy series
Find all related news
News
20/02/2023

Let’s end involuntary unemployment!

European survey on the perception of unemployment and publicly funded jobs
10/05/2022

Call to participants: Training Days for Social Business

Switzerland, September 3rd 2022
25/01/2021

Joint Progressive Call for the right to housing

Our housing system is broken. Over 85 million people in the European Union are overburdened […]
18/11/2020

Progressive leaders, academics and activists call for a European Child Union

Even before the pandemic, 23 million children in the EU were at risk of poverty […]
Find all related in the media
In the media

O László Andor στο Φόρουμ των Δελφών

by News 24 7 28/04/2023
“László Andor discussing at the Delphi Economic Forum about the importance of social inclusion and ways to strengthen it”

Research shows Ireland is too reliant on voluntary sector for mental health services

by RTÉ Radio 1 27/03/2023
RTÉ Radio 1 talks about our case studies 'Is an EU-wide approach to the mental health crisis necessary?', published in collaboration with Think-tank for Action on Social Change (TASC)

Irish mental health services ‘too hospital-centric’

by Irish Examiner 23/03/2023
Irish Examiner article on FEPS and TASC policy study "Is an EU-wide approach to the Mental Health Crisis necessary?"

Ireland lacks key mental health services, report finds

by RTÉ 23/03/2023
RTÉ article on FEPS and TASC policy study "Is an EU-wide approach to the Mental Health Crisis necessary?"