German Institute for Human Rights
Berlin (ots)
On the occasion of Labor Day on May 1st, the German Institute for Human Rights is calling on the federal government to make so-called live-in care in home care human rights-compliant.
“While the demand for live-in caregivers in Germany is steadily increasing, the working and living conditions of these women, most of whom come from Eastern Europe, have not improved in recent years,” explains Claudia Engelmann, Deputy Head of the Institute’s Human Rights Policy Department Germany/Europe . “They sometimes work and live under inhumane conditions. It is therefore long overdue to organize their work situation in a way that conforms to human rights,” Engelmann continued. “In the coalition agreement, the federal government has committed itself to a legally secure design of 24-hour care. So far, however, nothing has happened. Words must now be followed by deeds.”
The often inhumane working and living conditions of live-in caregivers in private households are now widely known. The study “Hard work, little protection” by the German Institute for Human Rights shows that the work of those affected is characterized by earnings well below the minimum wage, round-the-clock deployments and the lack of separation between home and work. They often experience severe overload and sometimes also physical and sexualized violence. They find it difficult to defend themselves against violations of their rights. This is due to often irregular employment relationships, a lack of language skills and a lack of information and advice.
“In order to protect caregivers from exploitative employment relationships, live-in care must be placed on a legally secure basis,” says Engelmann. “Politicians must work towards facilitating direct employment in private households.” In addition, there is a need for binding quality standards for placement agencies, as well as effective complaints options and nationwide multilingual advisory services for live-ins. A human rights-compliant design of live-in care is only conceivable within the framework of a care mix, which must be supplemented by outpatient care services, the involvement of other caregivers or the involvement of relatives.
According to current estimates by counseling centers, between 300,000 and 700,000 live-ins work in private households in Germany. These are usually women from Poland, Bulgaria and Romania, but also from other Eastern European EU countries and third countries.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Greta Schabram, Nora Freitag (2022): Hard work, little protection. Eastern European workers in home care in Germany. Berlin: German Institute for Human Rights.
“In focus”: Home care: hard work, little protection
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Original content from: German Institute for Human Rights, transmitted by news aktuell
