Housekeepers and carers: less regular employment, rising costs and more women leave work to care for family members

According to the Family (Net) Work survey carried out in July 2024 on a sample of 2,015 Assindatcolf and Webcolf member households, many households who use the services provided by a carer face a cost of more than 50 per cent of their monthly income each month. 57.7 per cent of households say that the cost of a carer takes up more than 50 per cent of their disposable income and 32.4 per cent say it is more than 70 per cent.

Figures that are now unaffordable not only for low-income households, but also for the middle class (households struggling to meet these expenses rise from 27.9% in January 2023 to 55.2% in July 2024).

The labour supply, very wide in the past, is shrinking. Italian families are having problems recruiting the right person for the type of work to be done (68.7%), and are struggling to find the available figures (21.5%). There is a lack of generational change in the sector: if in 2014, out of 100 carers, 24 were under 40 years old and 12 over 60, by 2023, the proportion of under 40s was almost halved (14.2%), while that of over 60s would more than double (29.1%).

The other side of the coin is that rising care costs are leading more and more women to give up work. Between 2018 and 2023, against a general increase in female employment, the share of women choosing not to work for family reasons rose from 2,525,000 to 2,659,000, an increase of 5.3%.compared to 2018 .

The most significant increase is among 55-64-year-olds: +219,000 have given up work (34.7 per cent more than in 2018), i.e. in the age group in which several care burdens can potentially be concentrated: towards elderly parents who are still alive, grandchildren, spouses.

The issue of undeclared work remains unresolved, as highlighted by ISTAT: the high level of irregularity still characterising the sector is estimated at 54% in 2023. Domestic work accounts for 38.3% of irregular dependent employment in Italy and generates a cost to the community of almost EUR 2.5 billion per year (EUR 1.5 billion from lost contribution revenue and EUR 904 million per year from IRPEF evasion).

According to these estimates, in 2023 out of 1. 384,000 domestic workers, 632,000 are regular and 753,000 irregular, and in the absence of countermeasures, the high share of irregularities still characterising the sector is expected to increase.

Assindatcolf: tax intervention to support families in regular work

In view of the economic manoeuvre, Assindatcolf is relaunching a proposal to encourage regular work through tax leverage: 'The picture this study gives us is undoubtedly alarming,' says Assindatcolf president Andrea Zini. That of a country where women are still forced to give up work to take care of their families, especially for economic reasons. A vicious circle that has serious repercussions especially on the front of irregular domestic work. It is now clear to everyone the need for a general reform of the system, starting with taxation: the state must support families economically, making regular domestic work more accessible and affordable. This is why we ask politics to put tax deductibility or tax credit for the cost of domestic work at the centre of its agenda, under the heading of family welfare'.