Introduction

• Author: Ludwinek, Anna; Clevers, Franziska
• Pages: 1-2

1

Within the European Pillar of Social Rights, the European

Commission has launched an initiative on work–life

balance for parents and carers with the main objective of

addressing women’s underrepresentation in the labour

market (European Commission, 2017). The proposal

was adopted by the Council of the European Union in

June 2019. The directive aims to increase the

participation of women in the labour market and the

take-up of family-related leave and flexible working

arrangements.

The new directive also provides opportunities for

workers to be granted leave to care for relatives who

need support. The directive, which will be transposed

into the national laws of the EU Member States, is

further supported by the new Strategic Agenda

2019–2024 and the political guidelines of President of

the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen’s

pledge to further reduce the gender gap related to

labour market participation (European Council, 2019;

European Commission, 2019a). This includes ensuring

protection against discrimination and dismissal for

parents and carers, including women returning from

maternity leave.

One of the key priority areas for the Commission is to

improve the quality, affordability and accessibility of

childcare and long-term care. In that context,

employment-friendly and accessible out-of-school care

(OSC) is clearly a means of increasing equal labour

market participation. The Commissioner for Jobs and

Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit, will be entrusted with an

action plan for the implementation of the European

Pillar of Social Rights that aims to focus on the quality

and affordability of key services (European Commission,

2019b).

School schedules are often incompatible with work

hours, which makes OSC an essential element for

parents’ reconciliation of work and care responsibilities

(OECD, 2007). The European Commission also refers to

OSC’s positive impact on children’s development and

identifies it as a tool for a modern work–life policy to

improve employment rates and reduce the risk of

poverty and social exclusion.

This report presents the results of research conducted

prior to the outbreak of COVID-19 in Europe in February

2020. Out-of-school care policies at EU, national and

local levels should be considered in light of the

pandemic in terms of medium- and long-term impacts.

By providing an overview of current policies, this report

can be useful to policymakers in identifying what has

worked in the past and what may be required to support

work–life balance for parent and carers as they deal

with the far-reaching consequences of this pandemic in

their own work and lives.

Eurofound work in the area of

out-of-school care

Eurofound has been one of the pioneers in the field of

OSC research, publishing in 2006 a report that focused

on employment developments in OSC services in the

EU Member States (Eurofound, 2006). The conclusion at

that time was that ‘childcare policy for school-age

children is either in the developing stages or not yet

developed across much of the EU’ (Eurofound, 2006,

p. 69). Exceptions were identified in a few countries,

including Denmark and Sweden. Eurofound’s

subsequent report, covering six countries, focused on

the role that OSC services play, specifically for

disadvantaged groups (Eurofound, 2008). The report

confirmed that, particularly in disadvantaged areas,

adequate provision of OSC plays an important role with

social, economic and health benefits.

Report objectives

The report aims to:

£provide an overview of national policies on OSC

£identify gaps between OSC hours and typical work

hours in Member States, the United Kingdom (UK)

and Norway

£provide information on the take-up of OSC services,

where possible

£provide an overview of the main barriers to the

provision and the take-up of OSC in countries

£determine how countries support the provision of

OSC through public policy

Definitions

There are various definitions and terms used for ‘out-of-

school care’, including ‘after-school care’, ‘wraparound

childcare’ or ‘out-of-school service’, but there is no

single agreed definition or commonly used terminology.

Countries use their own definitions, sometimes with

different understandings of OSC activities.

For the purposes of this report, OSC services are defined

as formalised programmes or activities for primary and

lower secondary schoolchildren (aged 6–12) provided

outside compulsory school times. OSC services can be

available before and after school, during lunch breaks

and during school holidays.

Introduction