(12 July) Low pay is a major problem in certain parts of the public services - particularly those where women make up the majority of workers. She works hard for the money, a new report, commissioned by EPSU from the European Trade Union Institute, investigates the situation in the health and social care sectors and reports on what trade unions are doing to address the issue.

This study provides data confirming that workers in lower-skilled health and social care assistant positions earn considerably less than the national average wage in their country. It also shows that the higher the proportion of women in the sector, the lower the average relative income.

The report argues that the wage penalty for working in female-dominated sectors and occupations such as health and social care can be explained by the underfinancing and privatisation of social care, weaker bargaining power in these sectors than many male-dominated sectors and the fact that care work is subject to a general undervaluation of what often continues to be seen as “women’s” work.

The ETUI found various measures being used by EPSU affiliates and other trade unions to tackle the problem, including: