Earlier this month the European Commission presented the European Care Strategy to ensure quality, affordable and accessible care services across the European Union and improve the situation for both care receivers and the people caring for them, professionally or informally.
Investing in high-quality care also means improving women’s participation in the labour market and gender equality, in particular gender pay and pension gaps. Women still bear the main brunt of care responsibilities, with 90% of the formal care workforce made up of women, and nearly 80 million women out of employment because of care responsibilities.
To address these issues, the Commission is proposing concrete actions to support Member States in increasing access to high-quality and affordable care services, while improving working conditions and work-life balance for carers.
