Informal care doesn’t follow a schedule.
Care changes.
Work must too.

Across Europe, millions of informal carers balance paid work with caring for a family member, friend or neighbour. But care rarely fits neatly into a calendar. Appointments change, emergencies happen, conditions fluctuate and caring responsibilities can arise at any moment.

THE REALITY OF CARE

A day that didn't go as planned

This is not a special case. It’s an ordinary Tuesday for millions of carers balancing a job with caring for a parent, partner or child.

08:05

Hospital calls about a change in mum's treatment plan.

09:00

Team meeting starts. Informal carer joins late, quietly rearranging the day.

11:20

The evening appointment is moved forward.

14:30

School calls. A second, unrelated interruption.

18:00

Work ends. Caring continues, unpaid and unscheduled.

22:00

Finally some time for one-self. Oh wait, no...

Care is unpredictable.

Life should be flexible enough to respond.

WHY FLEXIBILITY?

Flexibility is not a privilege.
It is essential.

When work, care services and policy flex around the reality of caring, everybody benefits.

For carers

To have room to answer a call, shift an hour, take a leave day. Without risking a job or an income they depend on.

For employers

To provide flexible policies keep experienced staff in work, reduce absenteeism and build genuine loyalty.

For society

Informal carers save European health and care systems billions every year. Supporting them is not charity, it’s infrastructure.

IN PRACTICE

What flexibility looks like

Not one unachievable policy: six small, practical shifts that add up.

Flexible hours

Start and finish times that shift with care needs, not against them.

Remote work

The option to work from wherever caring happens, when it needs to.

Leaves in hours

Informal carers’ leave counted in hours, not necessarily into full days.

Supportive managers

Managers trained to ask what’s needed instead of assuming, and accommodating.

Flexible services

Care and health services with hours that match real working lives.

Care-friendly culture

A workplace where naming caring responsibilities carries no stigma.

REAL STORIES

Voices of flexibility

Carers from across Europe on what flexibility has meant for them, and what is still missing.

When care and work go hand in hand

When your company has a caregivers group

Quote from European Women’s Lobby

“It is true that care doesn’t follow a schedule. Women know it too well, as they are often the ones who bear the bulk of care responsibilities – childcare, household tasks, care for the elderly or dependent relatives. For many mothers and carers, not having the possibility of flexible work arrangements will mean they will have to reduce working hours, take unpaid leave or leave employment entirely. For women, this means more than missed career opportunities: it directly contributes to the gender employment, pay and pension gaps, as well as hindering women’s ability to participate in public life.

Flexibility alone is not enough to close these gaps, but it does give a fairer chance to carers, to women. While we must work towards a equal-earner, equal-carer model and the promotion of a more equal sharing of care responsibilities between men and women, flexibility is not a shortcut but a necessary pre-condition to achieve it.”

When flexibility is a must

Older people are the invisible backbone of care, and too often care duties falls on older women. For many of them, caring responsibilities come on top of a lifetime of inequalities. Flexible work is not a privilege, it’s what allows carers to remain employed, healthy, financially secure and continue caring with dignity.

Sarah Loriato

Policy Manager, Age Platform Europe

When flexibility is more than a policy

Fabrizio Bocchetti

Managing Director for Greece and Cyprus of Merck

When procedures make it possible

Flexibility can only work through simple and adaptable procedures that ensure a fair balance of rights for both workers and employers.

Sebastian Gonzalez

Policy and Advocacy Officer, COFACE Families Europe

When flexible working arrangements make life easier

Minna Heerman

Finland

When inclusive workplaces and accessible formal care go hand in hand

Elena is a trained pharmacist living in Eastern Slovakia. After the birth of her daughter who has Down syndrome, she stayed home for 20 years due to the unavailability of formal care for her daughter. Elena recently received a place in school where she can place her daughter for half a day. Elena hence started preparing for her return to work through participating in a mentorship and job coaching program for women called Women’s Algorithm. She successfully landed a job in a pharmacy, and her employer agreed with a half-time work arrangement. Elena is now able to combine the care for her daughter with working in her field of expertise. Her daughter gets to socialize with other young people, and the employer found a reliable worker to fill a vacancy.

Elena (pseudonym)

Slovakia

When flexibility comes naturally

“I will never forget and be forever grateful that my employer told me when my mom was dying and I needed to fly home immediately that ‘family comes first and we will cover you in your absence. Take the time you need’”.

Shannon

Belgium

When flexibility changes everything

“Without this I think I would not be able to manage full-time work and caring responsibilities.”

Amy

United Kingdom

When some care is valued more than others

“Carer’s Leave is the poor relation of family leave policies.”

Kathryn

Ireland

When flexibility is refused

“I saw that there was a lot I could have done from home. But my application for a temporary teleworking position was rejected.”