On 21 May, the European Parliament adopted a resolution entitled “Advancing towards a care society: addressing the gender care gap”.    

Building on the own initiative report drafted by the Committees on Employment and Social Affairs (EMPL) and Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM), the resolution highlights the role of unpaid care work and inadequate care systems, with particular focus on gender inequality and stresses that the care sector, encompassing both formal and informal care, remains under-recognised, undervalued and underfunded.

According to the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP), the care economy accounts for 11% to the European Union’s GDP and employs over 6 million people. Yet, the working conditions of many carers remain significantly precarious. Against this background, the resolution recognises that the social economy – the wider family to which cooperatives belong – contribute to improving working conditions in the care sector thanks to their participatory governance models.

The resolution emphasises a further aspect that distinguishes the role played by cooperatives and other social economy actors. These entities provide essential, community-rooted care services in rural, remote and island areas, as well as to populations that are underserved by traditional public or private providers, especially when profit margins are limited.

To fulfil their mission, social economy actors must have access to finance. The resolution explicitly calls on the Commission and the Member States to strengthen their support for non-profit social economy enterprises and organisations and encourages Member States to facilitate access to funding and enhance the visibility of social economy actors, as highlighted in the 2021 Social Economy Action Plan. CECOP deems such support essential to give a boost to the long-term care sector, considering that cooperatives are among the main employers in the majority of Member States when it comes to residential care activities and social work activities without accommodation, as shown by a report published by the European Labour Authority this year.

Broadening the perspective to the care sector as a whole, the European Parliament stresses that it deserves special attention in the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), with the aim of advancing the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights, the European Care Strategy and the related Council Recommendation on Access to Affordable High-Quality Long-Term Care. Investment is particularly needed to support the creation of quality jobs, characterised by fair and equal remuneration, and the development of training opportunities for upskilling and reskilling. CECOP considers that this can only be possible by significantly increasing social spending (from 14% to 25%) in the National and Regional Partnership Plans (NRPPs) and the preservation of the European Social Fund+ as a standalone fund with dedicated regulation and budget.

In order to promote gender equality, the European Parliament believes that funding and investments must be accompanied by complementary, dedicated measures supporting women-owned enterprises that are innovating in the care economy, including simplified administrative procedures for their establishment. CECOP believes that such measures would widely benefit women-led cooperative initiatives. These have already proven to be a successful means of self-empowerment as our report on the care sector, ‘Cooperatives care!’ illustrates. The cooperative model, with its values of equality, equity, and solidarity, has not only enabled greater gender balance but has also allowed women to take control of their own working conditions.

The resolution formulates specific recommendations to guide the Commission on the way forward. It calls for a European action plan to help close the gender care gap and to support both formal and informal carers. It also welcomes the upcoming ‘European Care Deal’ and reiterates that all relevant stakeholders should be consulted during its preparation. CECOP calls on the EU institutions to recognise cooperatives as stakeholders and involve them in this meaningful process. The resolution also states that engagement with stakeholders could be strengthened by establishing both a structured dialogue on care and an annual platform dedicated to care. CECOP and the care cooperatives it represents would welcome this further step towards enhanced cooperation.