May 2025

After two years of in-depth research spanning six EU countries, the EU-funded CARE4CARE project is proud to unveil its flagship Policy Paper, a comprehensive set of recommendations designed to improve working conditions for Europe’s millions paid care workers — the majority of whom are women, and many migrants.

This milestone publication marks the culmination of Work Package 5 and draws on robust findings from Work Packages 2 and 3, which explored the legal, social, and economic dimensions of care work in France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, and Sweden. The result is a legislative blueprint grounded in comparative research and legal analysis, aimed at informing national and EU-level reforms.

The Policy Paper identifies six priority areas for action, offering realistic, evidence-based proposals that can transform the care sector into a field of dignified, skilled, and well-supported employment:

1. Job Quality & Undervaluation
   Introduce career pathways, formal recognition of skills, and wage structures that reflect the emotional and intercultural complexity of care work.
2. Health & Safety
   Establish enforceable workload ratios, ensure respect for working-time limits, and implement EU-wide protections against psychosocial risks and third-party violence.
3. Live-in & Domestic Care
   Promote universal ratification of ILO Convention 189, support the presumption of employment, and regulate placement agencies to professional standards.
4. Labour Migration
   Create safe, legal migration pathways, ensure portability of social security rights, and remove dependency of residence permits on a single employer.
5. Gender Equality
   Address the persistent pay and pension gaps and integrate gender-mainstreaming into every layer of reform.
6. Funding & Governance
   Tie public subsidies to decent-work standards and introduce an EU-wide quality-assurance framework for person-centred care management.

“Care workers kept Europe going during the pandemic, yet their jobs remain among the lowest-paid and least protected,” said Professor Maria Luisa Vallauri (University of Florence), scientific coordinator of CARE4CARE. “Our Policy Paper shows how targeted regulation and social dialogue can turn this essential sector into one that offers dignified, skilled employment.”

Lead author Professor Eva Kocher (Europa-Universität Viadrina) added, “From flexible single-permit rules to collective-bargaining incentives, the solutions we propose are ready to feed into the EU’s Long-Term Care agenda and upcoming national reforms.”

The recommendations were refined at a high-level seminar in Brussels, with participation from the European Commission’s DG EMPL, trade unions, employer federations, regional authorities, and civil society organisations. As CARE4CARE enters its advocacy phase, consortium partners will present these findings to Members of the European Parliament, national ministries, and social partner bodies, shaping the conversation around the European Care Strategy and the future of long-term care.