Caring for the carers

Despite their decisive role in caring for their children and for the future of our societies, mothers are yet to be fully supported or recognised as positive contributors to societal and developmental challenges.

Worldwide, women who are mothers are poorer than others. They face more penalties in their professional lives, their mental and physical health and their ability to participate in public life.

The Motherhood Penalty, parental burn out…these are very real issues that are increasingly being recognised but not addressed. Why?

Look at the statistics:

• 76.2 per cent of the total amount of unpaid care work, 16 billion hours per day globally, is performed by women, mostly mothers. That’s 3.2 times more than men
• 7.7 million women across the EU are kept out of the labour market due to care responsibilities, compared to 450,000 men. In 2018, 606 million women were unavailable for employment due to unpaid care work compared to only 41 million men. This has a huge impact on their ability to access social protection and an adequate pension in old age
• 649 million women (34 per cent of women of child bearing age) still lack adequate maternity protection worldwide, including income security during maternity leave

The urgent issues facing mothers around the world are numerous and they all have an impact on the future generation: food insecurity, poverty, climate change, physical and mental health, armed conflicts, work-life imbalances.

It is our mission to fight on their behalf, to defend their rights and their ability to make decisions for themselves and their families, and to enable them to take action.

For all that they do, it is time to care for the carers of the future.

Because when empowered and informed, mothers have the power to re-shape our world.