Eurofound research focuses on a range of care-related topics. These include working and caring, initiatives to support informal carers involved in paid work as well as those who are not, the increased need for long-term care, early childhood education and care (ECEC), and access to public services.
Survey data on care
Eurofound’s regular European Quality of Life Surveys (EQLS) and European Working Conditions Surveys (EWCS) cover various aspects related to these topics.
The EWCS provides data on working time and flexible working arrangements, paid and unpaid work, work organisation and work–life balance. Research covers topics such as the working conditions of women and men, the working conditions of an ageing workforce, as well as health and well-being at work.
The EQLS offers extensive data on care, including the high amount of informal care performed by people who are not in paid employment. The EQLS 2016 provides a range of information about quality of and access to healthcare, long-term care and ECEC services in particular. Based on this data, a 2019 study examines access to and quality of key public services in the EU. It reveals citizens’ perceptions of quality in healthcare, long-term care and ECEC and compares them between countries, groups in society and the receivers of care and indirect service users.
Access to ECEC, healthcare and long-term care
Research looking at access to early childhood education and care (ECEC), healthcare and long-term care services across various Member States outlines the barriers to the take-up of care services and differences in access issues between population groups. As part of its convergence monitoring hub, Eurofound measures convergence in child poverty via a number of indicators measuring social inclusion and protection.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, research has examined access to healthcare and the rise in unmet medical needs both during and in the aftermath of the crisis. It highlights the policy need to look at the impact this will have on the health of a workforce from which more work is expected in the coming years. Moreover, research has explored the impact of the pandemic on the quality of life of older citizens, including the effects on the use of care services and older people’s reliance on other support.
With population ageing and the need for long-term care services on the rise, research has also looked at the employment and working conditions of the long-term care workforce, examined recruitment and retention measures in home- and community-based care services, and also looked at support services for adults with physical and intellectual disabilities and chronic health problems – both physical and mental.
The care workforce
The care sector employs a growing share of workers in the EU, especially women, but is also experiencing increasing staff shortages. Research, as mentioned above, on the care workforce highlights the challenges around working conditions and the interlinkages between care sectors, particularly in relation to staff shortages. Overall, though, most care is being provided by informal carers, caring for family or friends. The research shows that upskilling and better access to care services help informal carers to work, including in the care sector itself.
Combining care and work: towards sustainable work
To be available for employment, work demands must be reconciled with those of one’s private life – in particular, the needs of children or dependent adult relatives. And these needs shift over the course of a working life. Eurofound discusses these issues in its EWCS research on working time and work–life balance in a life course perspective, and on working time patterns for sustainable work.
Addressing the ECEC needs of working parents and the care needs of older or disabled relatives and dependants has become central to the discussion around resolving the work–life balance conflict. Eurofound’s research on reconciling working and caring responsibilities shows the challenges involved in combining work and informal care in times of demographic change, and what measures are available to working carers to allow them to balance these demands.
