Our plan for better care services in the European Union

Easy to read is a way
to make information easy for everyone
to read and understand.

‘Care services’ is the support someone gets 
to manage their daily lives.

For example: 

• Persons with disabilities 
  may need support 
  to be able to live independently.

• Older persons may need help 
  to eat, dress, take a shower, 
  do their groceries
  or pay their bills.
   
• Parents may need help 
  to take care of their children

A person who regularly looks after other people
is called ‘carer’.

For example:

• A mother or a father
  who look after their child.

A person who looks after 
a person with disability 
or an older person 
in their family.

There are also paid carers
whose job is to look after other people.

For example:

• Nurses are paid carers.
  It is their job to look after people
  who are sick or have a disability.

Teachers at childcare
are paid carers.
It is their job to look after
babies and young children.
 

Having good care services where you live 
is important for all of us.

We may all need to take care of someone
at some point in our lives.

For example,
we may need
to look after our parents
when they get older.
Or to take care of our children.

We may also need someone else
to look after us
at some point in our lives.

For example:

• If we have an accident,
• If we have a disability,
• When we get older,
• When we become parents 
  and we need support 
  to take care of our child.

At the European Commission,
we believe that all people in Europe
should have access
to good care services.

With good care services:

• Persons with disabilities will be able
  to get the support they need
  to live independently
  and take part in the community.

• Older persons will be able 
  to get the support they need
  to live a good life.

Parents will be able
to get support to take care
of their children.
With the right support,
it will also be easier for them to work,
if they want to.
 

Unfortunately, many people in the European Union
still cannot enjoy good care services.
This can be because the care services
are not available where they live,
or they are too expensive 
or they do not fit their needs.

For example:

• Many parents in Europe 
  cannot continue working 
  after the birth of their child 
  because they cannot pay 
  for childcare.

• Many older persons do not get the care they need at home.
   
• Many persons with disabilities 
  do not get the support they need 
  to be able to live independently.

It is mostly women 
who are expected to look after 
a member of their family. 
For example, a child or an older parent.
This makes it more difficult for women to work than for men.

People who work as carers 
often work too much 
and get low salaries for their job. 
This is unfair 
and makes it hard for other people 
to choose to do this job. 
This is one of the reasons why 
there are not enough nurses and carers 
in Europe.
 

At the European Commission, 
we believe that all people in Europe 
should enjoy good care services.

In 2022, we made a plan 
to guide countries in the European Union 
to give more and better care services 
to their people.
We call this plan ‘the European Care Strategy’.

Amongst others, in this plan, 
we ask all countries in the European Union to:

This way young children
can grow their skills
and spend time with other children
of their age
while their parents work.

For example, countries 
in the European Union 
should collect information about 
how many young children with disabilities 
take part in childcare.

Persons with disabilities, older persons 
and all people who need care 
should be able to enjoy 
good care services 
wherever they live In Europe.

They know best 
the challenges of their work 
and can suggest what can be better.

It should not be mostly women 
who look after other members 
of the family.
Men are also able 
to look after their loved ones.

Men can also work as nurses 
same as women. 
Being a carer or a nurse 
should not be seen as jobs 
only for women.

 

To make the European Care Strategy happen,
it is important to work all together.

In the next period,
the European Commission will work
with other bodies of the European Union
to make the European Care Strategy
happen.

For example:

• The European Parliament
  
  and
   
• The Council of the European Union

All together we can make
the care services in Europe better
for all people.
 

If you have questions,
you can send us a message
by clicking here.