In 2024, Eurofound published the paper “Undeclared care work in the EU: Policy approaches to a complex socioeconomic challenge” about an emerging issue in Europe: undeclared care work. With an ageing population and increasing participation of women in the labour market, the care sector is becoming a growing challenge for the proper functioning of society.
Firstly, what can be considered as care work is childcare, long-term care, healthcare, education and personal services. The undeclared care work is informal and can either be performed by a familiar or someone close to the family or a strange person who is hired for this purpose.
In all EU countries, similarities were found. The most common profile of care workers are middle-aged women from low socioeconomic backgrounds, frequently migrants from Eastern Europe or from further regions such as Africa, Latin America and Asia.
The study highlights the consequences of undeclared care work, including low wages and poor working conditions, psychosocial risks linked to the high demands of care work, and insufficient training for care activities, which exposes both carers and care recipients to risks.
In France, this is reflected in the fact that homecare and personal services are in the less remunerated categories, meaning that a worker in this domain is paid 34 % less than the average for French employees (DREES, 2025).
