In September, the European Commission presented the European Care Strategy. The EU Alliance for Investing in Children (Alliance), of which EPHA is part, has published a policy paper in response. In addition to EPHA, it is endorsed by 19 other partner organisations. Aside from the Care Strategy, the paper also addresses the announced revision of the Barcelona Targets for high-quality and affordable childcare, as well as the proposed Council Recommendation on access to affordable high-quality care.
The EU Alliance for Investing in Children welcomes the European Care Strategy as a key framework to address the needs of children, their families, and carers. In particular, the strategy aims to ensure available, quality, affordable and accessible care services with better working conditions, gender equality and work-life balance for carers, and to improve the situation for both carers and care receivers. This document includes (1) a comprehensive reaction to the Care Strategy, (2) an analysis of the proposal for a Council Recommendation on the Revision of the Barcelona Targets on Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC), and (3) an analysis of the proposal for a Council Recommendation on the access to affordable high-quality long-term care (LTC).
The Alliance believes the European Care Strategy’s focus should be to:
- Provide high-quality care services for all
- Increase the number of accessible and affordable services
- Strengthen an EU-wide and comprehensive approach
Read the policy paper to find out what the European Care Strategy and its proposed Council Recommendations entail and how the Alliance believes they could be further improved.