Caring for who cares and caring for who is cared for: Recommendations for public policies - for a Care Pact
Contributions to the Social Summit
[Porto, 6 May 2021] On the eve of the Porto Social Summit, the high moment of the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union, paving the way for the next decade to meet the challenges of the present and the future, the Portuguese Platform for Women’s Rights (PpDM), the national coordination of the European Women’s Lobby (EWL), is making public the Recommendations resulting from the initiative “Valuing the work of care as an engine of societies: recommendations for the present and the future”.
The document CARING FOR WHO CARES AND CARING FOR WHO IS CARED FOR: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PUBLIC POLICIES is a roadmap for a CARE PACT produced from reflections from two workshops organized in November last year by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Portugal, the Portuguese Platform for Women’s Rights (PpDM) and the Res Publica Foundation.
About 30 organizations participated in this initiative, including unions from different sectors linked to the provision of care, employers from the social sector, governmental and public entities at central and local level responsible for policies on the provision of care and equality between women and men, political representatives, representatives of associations of retired persons and / or the elderly, local communities, women’s rights associations, researchers, and actors operating in areas such as mental and physical health, youth and the elderly, combating violence against caregivers and against elderly people and others in situations of dependency, education and migration. There was a consensus among all the participants who recognised that the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the vital importance of care work in our societies. The Recovery and Resilience Plan provides a crucial opportunity to prioritize and leverage the work of care, with political acknowledgement in the appropriation of financial resources.
The document is divided into two parts: the first part: CARING OF WHO CARES proposes seven Policy Objectives, followed by 51 Policy Measures. The second part: CARE FOR WHO IS CARED proposes five Policy Objectives, followed by 34 Policy Measures.
CARING FOR WHO CARES AND CARING FOR WHO IS CARED FOR: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PUBLIC POLICIES thus proposes a roadmap to prioritise, recognize and value care work as a fundamental pillar of society. This will not only mitigate the consequences of the pandemic, but also pave the way for the future at a time when the operationalization of the European Pillar of Social Rights is being discussed. Articulated with the digital transition and the green transition, a Care Pact could promote a virtuous circle combining the sustainability of society and the planet.
Policy Objectives
On CARING FOR THOSE WHO CARE:
- IDENTIFY EXISTING NEEDS AND RESOURCES WITH RESPECT TO CARE
- RECOGNIZE, GIVE VISIBILITY AND VALUE CARE WORK
- PROMOTE DECENT WORK OF THE PAID CARERS
- GUARANTEE THE RIGHTS OF UNPAID CARERS
- PROMOTE THE HEALTH OF CARERS
- PROMOTE TRAINING FOR CARERS
- ENSURE THAT WOMEN AND MEN ARE BOTH WORKERS AND CARERS - FOR AN EQUAL SHARING OF RESPONSIBILITIES
On CARING FOR WHO IS CARED FOR:
- PROMOTE A CARE-FOCUSED SOCIAL ACTION
- GUARANTEE A CARE-ORIENTED HOUSING
- IMPROVE SERVICES, INFRASTRUCTURES AND POLICIES TO PROMOTE THE QUALITY OF CARE
- GUARANTEE THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF THE CARED PEERSONS
- PROMOTE THE DIVERSIFICATION OF CARE RESPONSES
Learn more about the policy objectives and recommendations outlined in the document CARING FOR WHO CARES AND CARING FOR WHO IS CARED FOR: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR PUBLIC POLICIES, a roadmap for a CARE PACT.
This work is part of the Portuguese Platform for Women’s Rights engagement on feminist economics both at the EU level, find here the Portuguese version of EWL’s Purple Pact – A Feminist approach to the Economy, and at the national level, find several resources available at the Portuguese Platform for Women’s Rights Centre of Resources and Digital Knowledge – Maria Alzira Lemos.
