We responded to the Commission’s consultation on exploiting the employment potential of personal and household services.

The Commission’s paper seems to put on the same level housework services - such as cleaning, remedial classes, home repairs, gardening, ICT support etc – and care activities. Care activities are social services of general interest (SSGI) and require highly qualified staff, with very good interpersonal skills, different from housework services which require lower skills.

We understand that the aim of this paper is to create job opportunities in the area of domestic work and home care and to fight against undeclared work which is common in this sector. However, we recommend that the Commission adopts a broader and more comprehensive strategy, including an initiative to encourage member states to invest in the area of SSGI and the care sector as a whole (of which home care is just one part), in line with the Europe 2020 strategy and with the Integrated Employment Guideline no. 7.

Read our recommendations to develop quality personal services and quality jobs in the sector: in our opinion the development of quality personal services needs to be done with public support, in a regulated manner, with the involvement of public authorities, social partners, civil society organisations and all other relevant stakeholders.