On April 18, the European Commission published a public consultation on exploiting the employment potential of personal and household services.
The 2011 Eurofound report found that 80% of the time devoted to support services for households (housework, childcare, etc.) and elderly dependents is provided by relatives. However, population aging in all Member States, combined with an expected decline in the number of family members likely to take on these tasks – especially due to the increasing percentage of women in the workforce – is creating a need for outsourcing.
This would enable family members, especially working women, to achieve a better work-life balance. Women spend an average of 2.5 hours a day on housework and personal care, whereas men average only 1.5 hours a day.
The Commission also seeks to create jobs, with training opportunities for comparatively unskilled workers, and to improve the quality of services with a workforce armed with the necessary expertise and enjoying good working conditions. The goal is to encourage the transfer of household services from the shadow economy to the formal economy, where they can contribute to job creation and the growth of micro-enterprises and SMEs. A significant portion of these services is currently provided by undocumented workers.
While employment in personal and household services falls under Member State responsibility, the Commission believes that joint reflection and an exchange of best practices are useful for developing solutions to problems that undermine this sector of the economy and for meeting the needs that will arise with demographic changes. At the EU level, policies concerning this kind of social service are organized using the open method of coordination for social protection and social inclusion.
The Commission also asserted the need for government intervention to encourage the provision of these services in the formal economy. Authorities could, for example, put in place a system of service-vouchers for which the consumer would pay only a portion of the price and the government would cover the rest. Initiatives of this kind have already been established in some countries, with CESU (chèques emploi service universel) vouchers in France, service vouchers in Belgium, and “mini-jobs” in Germany.
Several Member States already support the supply and demand for personal and household services. Although this many appear to weigh heavily on public coffers, the government recovers a portion of its investment through taxes, additional contributions, and reduced unemployment benefits via job creation.
Services to individuals and households thus offer a real possibility for increasing employment. For the Commission, it is now up to European markets to open up even more and truly harness this opportunity.