The disproportionate burden of unpaid care responsibilities and women’s “double shifts” of paid and unpaid work become most obvious by browsing through the datasets on the gender gaps in time use on paid and unpaid work. 75% of unpaid and domestic care work in the EU is done by women. The inequal share in care responsibilities directly feeds into gender inequalities and solidifies them in the long term.

On the occasion of the International Women’s Day in 2024, we have updated the Care Atlas. It focuses on the European Care Strategy, which we analyse in our Policy Study on the European Care Strategy. Thus, the Care Atlas 2.0. is based on the two main pillars of the strategy: Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC), and Long-Term Care.

Concerning ECEC, parents (most often mothers) increasingly face a double burden in balancing paid work and caring responsibilities. We need an expansion of childcare services, accessible to all regardless of their socio-economic background, and a high intensity to enrolment. 

When it comes to Long-Term Care, we need concrete measures to ensure good and affordable quality care for all, including good working conditions for care workers. Already today, and even more so with view to the future and demographic shifts both on the supply and demand side for long-term care.