What changed between the plenary report and the adopted text

Changed:K. whereas the estimated amount of time devoted to informal care in Europe is 39 billion hours annually, equivalent to an economic value of around EUR 576 billion, representing approximately 3.633,63 % of Europe’s gross domestic product (GDP); whereas informal care is not adequately recognised or acknowledged in its different forms, ranging from daily support with personal care to occasional help with household tasks; whereas women are disproportionately responsible for providing such care, which reinforces gender disparities, limiting their ability to pursue formal employment, especially for younger informal carers; whereas the childcare gap remains one of the most pressing challenges new parents face in the EU and mainly affects women by delaying their return to work;

Changed:M. whereas 88.288,2 % of the formal care workforce is made up of women, underlining that the psychological and organisational burden of care and household tasks continues to fall predominantly on women;

Changed:O. whereas this reinforces persisting related gender gaps across the EU and contributes to widening the gender care gap, limiting women’s ability to participate in the labour market and public life and to achieve economic independence; whereas the persistent gender gaps, including the 10 % gender employment gap, the 12 % gender pay gap and the 25 % gender pension gap among other factors, such as time employed in care, put women in vulnerable positions; whereas despite increased awareness of the gender care gap, a genuine cultural shift towards equal sharing of unpaid care work remains distant; whereas persistent gender stereotypes place the expectation of caregiving predominantly on women and girls, with these being reinforced online through social media; whereas cultural change, awareness-raising campaigns and educational initiatives promoting shared caregiving responsibilities can enable women to participate equally in society and ensure girls are free to pursue their ambitions without disproportionate care duties; whereas this care gap calls for measures to promote male participation in the sector and a more equal distribution of responsibilities; whereas according to the European Institute for Gender Equality’s 2024 Gender Equality Index, the EU average score for care activities is 78.778,7 points, reflecting persistent gender disparities in unpaid housework, childcare and long-term care; whereas the care workforce across Europe is ageing and facing recruitment and retention challenges;

Changed:Q. whereas women play a key role in the care sector, and even after entering the labour market, they continue to bear the primary responsibility for household and care work; whereas time-use surveys are needed, focused on measuring the allocation of time spent performing care and domestic work; whereas care responsibilities keep approximately 7.77,7 million women out of the labour market, compared to just 450 000 men; whereas some women cannot fully enter the labour market due to the burden of carrying out informal care responsibilities; whereas the uneven distribution of unpaid care work hinders women’s access to full-time employment and contributes negatively to the gender income gap, resulting in fewer career opportunities or even accepting offers of jobs below their skills levels, leading to a loss of income and aggravation of the gender pension gap; whereas these detrimental effects are closely associated with the intensity of care provided and the duration of caregiving responsibilities; whereas single mothers are particularly affected by limited employment opportunities due to care duties; whereas single parents make up 12.412,4 % of EU households with children; whereas women are also disproportionately represented among single-parent families, with the figure standing at 85 %; whereas only half of the EU’s 42.842,8 million working-age persons with disabilities are in employment; whereas women with disabilities are particularly affected, with only 21 % in full-time employment;

Changed:1. Highlights that around 6.2million6,2million people in the EU are employed as formal care workers, while more than 53 million people provide informal, often unpaid, care work within their social environment, such as for sick or elderly family members, or family members with disabilities; notes that informal care accounts for between 30 % to 85 % of all care work;

Changed:7. Notes the importance of recognising and developing the personal and household services (PHS) sector as key sector, as it encompasses all care work taking place in households, including direct (childcare, long-term care, live-in care for the elderly and persons with disabilities) and indirect care (cooking, ironing, cleaning, gardening, remedial classes); underlines the need to recognise, support and invest in PHS workers; notes that these services ‘support well-being at home for individuals and families, including childcare, long-term care for the elderly and disabled, cleaning, home repairs, tutoring, gardening, and ICT support’; stresses that there are around 6.86,8 million undeclared workers in the EU either providing care (2.1(2,1 million) or in direct household employment (4.7(4,7 million), of whom 90 % are women, the majority being middle-aged and non-EU nationals, who are often underemployed; recalls that the estimated number of undeclared workers in the PHS sector is 9.29,2 million people;

Changed:12. Notes that public expenditure on long-term care is expected to rise to 1.71,7 % of GDP by 2050 from 0.80,8 % of GDP in 2022; underlines that adequate and sustainable funding must be ensured;

Changed:13. Highlights that by 2070, almost 30 % of the EU population will be aged 65 or over, which, together with other factors such as higher life expectancy and the growing care needs of persons with disabilities, may lead to higher demand for care services that put significant pressure on health and welfare systems, while the number of people requiring long-term care is expected to increase from 30.830,8 million in 2019 to 38.1 million in 2050; notes that current needs already pose a challenge, where one in five persons in need of long-term care cannot access such services due to affordability constraints;

Changed:59.58. Highlights that only half of the EU’s 42.842,8 million working-age persons with disabilities are in employment, with only 21 % of women with disabilities in full-time employment; calls, therefore, on the Commission and the Member States to encourage and train caregivers to support the integration of persons with disabilities into the labour market;

Changed:37.36. Notes that gender mainstreaming and gender budgeting need to be implementedneeds to ensure adequate care investments and to monitor the gender-related effects of measures or lack thereof;