How to make the care sector resilient after the pandemic?

The ILO addressed a Health and social care pan-European conference entitled ‘Better working conditions means high-quality health care’, organized by EPSU, the European Public Service Union.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed persisting decent work gaps that affect the care sector’s resilience, be it in terms of care infrastructures and staffing, or in terms of workers’ safety, salary, and social protection schemes,” said Heinz Koller, ILO Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia.

Whereas the care sector remains a major source of employment with about 381 million care workers globally, care professions are often undervalued and wages tend to be lower compared to other economic sectors. We also see recurrent understaffing, long hours, and a persistent gender pay gap.

Domestic workers and migrant care workers are often subject to poor working conditions, and are vulnerable to abuse, exploitation and precarity.

“There cannot be any resilient care sector without decent work for all care workers,” said the ILO Regional Director. He reminded the participants that a robust care sector is an essential part of resilient social protection systems able to provide adequate and equitable support to the population throughout the life cycle.

The current needs for care services globally are considerable. According to ILO estimates, closing the existing structural gaps in care services and policies would require an annual investment of 5.4 trillion dollar by 2035. At the same time, the care sector has the potential to generate up to 300 million new decent jobs by 2035.

“Achieving decent work for a resilient health and care sector is the ILO objective of what we call the high road to care work, which means allowing all care workers, regardless of their status, to enjoy full labour rights and protection,” said Mr Koller.

This requires implementing comprehensive policies in a way that benefits both care recipients and workers, including unpaid carers. Such policies should encompass all aspects and dimensions of the care economy, especially the five following areas: care, macroeconomics, labour, social protection and migration, Mr Koller explained.

The ILO Regional Director welcomed the EU Care Strategy, which has been launched by the European Commission in September, calling it “a very positive step towards this high road to care work”. This Strategy is likely to increase the quality, accessibility, and affordability of both childcare and long-term care, taking into account all dimensions of the care economy, including the need for a better work-life balance, social equality and gender equality.

“In the troubled times we live in, our objective to achieve decent work for a resilient care sector is certainly not an easy one, but it remains indispensable to bring about a sustainable and human-centred future of work,” Mr Koller concluded.