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Care4Care: from precarious to safe working conditions

24-hour carers in Austria work under precarious conditions: Most of them are migrants commuting from Romania or Slovakia to support Austrians who require care. The majority of carers are holders of a business license and should therefore be personally and professionally independent in the pursuit of their trade. In practice, though, they are bound by instructions from their clients (the people receiving care) and referring agencies: they cannot freely set their own working hours, workplace, and routines.

The project “Care4Care: From precarious to safe working conditions” therefore aims to improve the working conditions of migrant 24-hour carers working in Austria and make their migration safer for them. This aim will be realised through cooperation between LEFÖ-IBF (Beratung, Bildung und Begleitung für Migrant*innen), IG24, and partner organisations in Slovakia (CELSI – Central European Labour Studies Institute) and in Romania (Feminist Front – Asociaţia FRONT) who work with migrating laborers primarily in the field of care work.

Care4Care considers preventing exploitative working conditions and improving the safety of labourer’s migration to go beyond “protection” and include tackling the systematic problems faced by 24-hour carers. Human trafficking and exploitation will be fought pre-emptively through sustainable build-up of IG24, scientific studies, developing a model of employment for 24-hour carers, and multinational cooperation.

Time frame: 04/2022 – 03/2024

Further IG24 projects