European Care Strategy

The European Care Strategy was launched by the European Commission in 2022. It is the first Strategy developed by the EU on the topic of care and it aims to strengthen the resilience of European care systems and improve the conditions of care givers and care receivers. 
Key areas of action include working conditions and work-life balance, quality and accessible services, upskilling and reskilling and gender equality. The Strategy highlights the need to make the care sector more attractive, especially by improving working conditions and wages and providing education and training. Poor working conditions of care workers are one of the major challenges, as they hamper retention and recruitment of much needed staff. A key challenge specific to the care sector is the gender issue, as women make up for the majority of professionals and informal carers and homecare often prevent them from participating in the labour market.

The policy framework

The Care Strategy is linked to broader European and international policy frameworks. At European level, the Strategy strongly supports the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights, the key policy framework for employment and social policies in Europe. In particular, it contributes to Principle 9 on the right of parents and people with caring responsibilities to work-life balance; Principle 11 on children’s right to affordable early childhood education and care; and Principle 18 on the right to access quality and affordable long-term care, especially community-based services and homecare. 

The Care Strategy also complements other European strategies. On the topic of childhood, it creates together with the EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child and EU Child Guarantee a comprehensive framework for the protection of children’s rights. By focusing on improving accessibility of services and shifting from institutionalised care to community-based care, the Strategy also supports the implementation of the EU Disability Strategy and the broader international framework set by the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Moreover, it supports the achievement of fair and inclusive green and digital transitions, which are set to make the Union more sustainable, resilient, prosperous and fair for all.

Council Recommendation on early childhood care

As a process of the Barcelona targets revision that were introduced in 2002 with a purpose to encourage Member States to increase participation in early childhood education and care, to ease and help women’s labour market participation as they still bare the major weight of caring duties, and to enhance the social and cognitive development of children, in particular for those in vulnerable situations or from disadvantaged backgrounds, the Council has introduced a Recommendation on early childhood care.

The Recommendation encourages EU Member States to increase participation in these services.

It recommends that:

·      at least 45% of children below the age of three participate in early childhood education and care (specific targets apply to member states that have yet to reach the2002 goals);

·      at least 96% of children between the age of three and the starting age for compulsory primary education should participate in early childhood education and care.

​The recommendation also covers qualitative aspects such as staff-child ratios and group sizes as well as territorial distribution of care facilities.

Council Recommendation on high-quality long-term care

The Council Recommendation on affordable high-quality long-term care was adopted by the Council on 8thof December 2022.

The Recommendation invites Member States to take action in improving access to affordable, high-quality long-term care for all people who need it and addresses the adequacy of social protection for long-term care, the availability and quality of long-term care services, the challenges faced by formal and informal carers as well as long-term care governance.

The long-term care recommendation proposes actions aiming at making care more accessible, affordable and of better quality. It recommends – among other things – closing the territorial gaps in availability of an access to long-term care, in particular in rural and depopulating areas, ensuring compliance with quality criteria and standards across all long-term care settings and promoting autonomy and independent living.

The recommendation also assures that strong long-term care sector can help to foster gender equality, as care responsibilities keep millions of women out of the labour market and/or in part-time work with a negative impact on overall labour supply. Thus, investing in high-quality care would mean improving women's participation in the labour market and gender equality, in particular gender pay and pension gaps[1].


[1]https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_22_5169

EPR wrote a short briefing on the EU Care Strategy in 2023. The briefing outlines the most relevant initiatives of the Strategy for organisations and associations working with persons with disabilities and on long-term care.