Care Union

Inspiration

According to the Spanish National Institute of Statistics (INE), the time spent performing non-remunerated labor is 30% higher than the time remunerated workers spend working in the labor market. And of this time spent working without remuneration, 80% is performed by women. In Spain, non-remunerated care would represent around 28 million full-time jobs (Mª Ángeles Durán, 2019).

Non-remunerated work includes the work performed in houses; taking care of the elderly, the young, and those people who have disabilities. Non-remunerated care represents an additional burden over many women (specially migrant women) who must balance remunerated work with non-remunerated work or, just attend non-remunerated work (with the negative effects that not having an income implies). Gender inequalities are thus magnified by the gender characteristics of non-remunerated work.

During this COVID-19 crisis of non-remunerated care has probably increased, since carers spend more time with those people who they are attend and there is an increased necessity for cares in midst of this health and social crises. However, non-remunerated carers are often overlooked and their demands and needs lie more invisibilized than ever.

The economic, social and time-management problems of women that take care of others increase while care is more necessary than ever.

In addition, transnational chains of care (for instance, women that leave their country to go care for other people in other countries, while leaving people that need care in their home countries to be cared by others) suffer great precariousness and can have long-reaching effects within transnational chains of care in the EU.

What it does

Care Union, in short: cares for carers.

Care Union acts as a network for non-remunerated carers throughout Europe allowing them to connect amongst each other, communicate their common problems, propose solutions and articulate demands.

It works as a forum with different areas (spaces for issues, reflection, solidarity, socializing…) that help create a sui generis non-remunerated care workers union.

Impact

This Care Union can help organize, bring up invisibilized problems and manage them, including the problems brought up by COVID-19.

For instance, in macro levels it could help non-remunerated care workers to articulate their positions and demands with respect to the Universal Basic Income that several EU countries are working on.

In micro levels, it could help carers share solutions to everyday problems, such as tips to maintain enhanced protection against COVID-19 when taking care of others.

Furthermore, after the crisis, a platform like Care Union could help non-remunerated care workers secure their rights and organize, building longterm resilience.

How I built it

This idea was built by first thinking about the social groups most affected by COVID-19 and which already suffered from great precariousness previously. This is how non-remunerated care became the main subject of focus. The next step was to find out how COVID-19 affects non-remunerated care workers and what could help their situation.

Challenges I ran into

Several challenges were faced, for instance, technical issues regarding finding a team and also creating a visual model of what the project would look like. In relation to the content of the project, it was easier identifying the problem to be addressed than the solution. Thinking of a solution to such a challenge is complicated because it must overcome the theory in order to encompass a pragmatic and practical idea.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

I'm proud of the ideas that emerged and being able to overcome difficulties such as not understanding the hackathon system at the beginning. I am also proud of taking part in a European hackathon with so many interesting ideas!

What's next for Care Union

First, an accurate prototype of the project is necessary, including a website model. Next, testing the platform in a small scale would be useful in order to receive feedback and see possible impacts. Spreading awareness of the project throughout social media, collaborating with other social groups (such as migrant associations or other trade unions) can also help expand awareness and enhance the impact of Care Union.