Handelsblatt2 days agoOpinion1 min readGermany

Comment: The care reform must not forget women

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Caring relatives, mostly women, perform essential work that often leads to professional reductions and financial losses.
While politicians recognize the service, the structural question of financing care in Berlin remains unresolved.

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Why It Matters

Caring relatives often take on unpaid care work, which leads to professional restrictions. The financing of the care system is a central political contentious issue in Germany.

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It is often the women who step in when the mother can no longer cope on her own, the father has to go to the doctor or the partner needs help after a hospital stay. They arrange doctor's appointments, obtain medication and provide care. If this becomes too much in addition to their job, they reduce their working hours or give up their job completely. This has consequences, not just for you personally, but for everyone.

Federal Health Minister Carsten Linnemann (CDU) describes caring relatives as heroes of our society. He is right with this recognition. But recognition alone is of little help to those affected if they have to cut back professionally to provide care.

Women in particular earn less, miss out on opportunities for advancement and later receive lower pensions. Anyone who takes a step back in their careers can often find it difficult to make up for the years lost. But this also means that the economy is lacking workers, which it urgently needs given the shortage of skilled workers.

In Berlin, the main debate is about who should pay for care in the future. Do contributions have to increase? How much should those in need of care pay themselves? And how much money does the state have to contribute?

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