20
May
2026
Watch
Advancing towards a care society: addressing the gender care gap (debate)
Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, as long as society relies on the precarious or invisible work of women, there will be no real equality. 78% of caregivers are caregivers and the more precarious the position, the more numerous they are. These jobs are hard, sometimes despised. Even today, they are the ones that keep our societies standing. For many women, caring is also the job of: the end of the working day, free work. In the European Union, I describe the lives of more than 32 million women. 32 million women who work without any pay or recognition, 17 hours a week on average. Realize it. They reduce their working time, give up their careers, hobbies or leave the job altogether to take care of others. Caring is not a natural duty: cooking, cleaning or dressing wounds. Some people here believe that this is the nature of women. But stop trying to send us home. The submission of women is a patriarchal and ultraliberal construction. Some find their account to the right of this Chamber. On behalf of the Socialist Group, I want to make it clear: Equality is a political priority for us. It is not a case of a female nature, which does not exist, but a question of justice. "You are not born submissive, you become submissive," the philosopher could have said. But we're fighting to break those chains. We want a genuine European care strategy: massive public investment, equal pay and recognition of the work of all. What did the far right do? Under the guise of national priority and family duty, she wants to send women back to sacrifice and invisibility. Colleagues, by 2050, almost 30% of Europeans will be over 65. And by then, a quarter of the workforce will be carers. Will they be dignified workers or citizens lurking in the shadows? This is where it is decided. I hope that our future work will embody the ambitions that European women deserve.