On European Carers Day, 6 October, the European Women’s Lobby joins Eurocarers and other civil society organisations in calling for greater recognition and support for informal carers across Europe.
Care does not follow a schedule. Caring responsibilities can change unexpectedly, making it essential that workers have access to flexible working arrangements that allow them to combine paid work with caring responsibilities without having to compromise their economic security or rights.
Women continue to carry a disproportionate share of unpaid care work. This has significant consequences for women’s employment, earnings, pensions and opportunities to participate fully in public and political life.
As part of Eurocarers’ European Carers Day campaign, “Informal care doesn’t follow a schedule. Care changes. Work must too,” the European Women’s Lobby highlights the gendered impact of inflexible working arrangements:
“It is true that care doesn’t follow a schedule. Women know it too well, as they are often the ones who bear the bulk of care responsibilities – childcare, household tasks, care for the elderly or dependent relatives. For many mothers and carers, not having the possibility of flexible work arrangements will mean they will have to reduce working hours, take unpaid leave or leave employment entirely.
For women, this means more than missed career opportunities: it directly contributes to the gender employment, pay and pension gaps, as well as hindering women’s ability to participate in public life.
Flexibility alone is not enough to close these gaps, but it does give a fairer chance to carers, to women. While we must work towards an equal-earner, equal-carer model and the promotion of a more equal sharing of care responsibilities between men and women, flexibility is not a shortcut but a necessary pre-condition to achieve it.”
The European Women’s Lobby has signed the joint statement calling for action to better support carers and build workplaces and societies that recognise the realities of care.
Read the joint statement and find out more about the European Carers Day campaign.
