Molinuevo, Daniel

What have been the major developments in quality of life and public services in Europe in recent years, as captured by research into these areas in Eurofound’s work programme for 2017–2020? This flagship publication provides a synthesis...

Public services are essential for achieving high levels of social protection, social cohesion and social inclusion. However, to be effective in this regard, services must be of good quality and they must be equally accessible to the broadest possible range of  citizens.

In this blog piece, originally published in Social Europe, Eurofound Research Officer Daniel Molinuevo looks at the service providers delivering long-term care to older people in Europe.

With people living longer, the need for affordable care of high quality to support Europe’s population increases. Over the last ten years there has been an expansion of the private sector in terms of the number of care homes and the place...

In the past 10 years there has been a substantial increase in the number of for-profit private hospitals, while the number of public hospitals decreases. This has been heightened by the recent economic and financial crisis where hospital closures have created new opportunities for private providers.

Access to early childhood education and care (ECEC) services and the quality of such services are important issues that are gaining greater prominence in the EU. This study presents evidence on the elements of working conditions and in-service training that increase the quality of ECEC.

In the wake of the economic and financial crisis, many European governments have cut spending on healthcare services. At the same time, unemployment, financial strain and reduced prevention have increased the need for certain healthcare services, while falling disposable income has made access to healthcare more difficult for many EU households.

The aim of this working paper is to provide information about the working conditions and in-service training opportunities of early childhood education and care (ECEC) workers and to describe how these factors are linked to outcomes for children. This paper is part of the research project ‘Assessing childcare services’ being carried out by Eurofound in 2013 and 2014. The project focuses on the two dimensions of early childhood education and care that have been the main focus of policy initiatives at European level: ensuring that services are accessible and that they are of good quality.

This background paper aims to give an overview of the effects that the lack of childcare and care facilities for other dependants has on the career choices and situation of young men and women in the labour market, with a particular focus on the effects of the crisis on the accessibility of those services. The paper was prepared on request from the European Parliament for expert input on the effects of caring for children and other dependants on the employability of young men and women. It includes an analysis of the data from Eurofound’s third European Quality of Life Survey of 2011 (EQLS), the 2013 European Labour Force Survey (LFS) and the 2011 Eurobarometer survey.

The influence of parenting on the well-being and future opportunities of children is widely acknowledged, but it is only recently that parenting support and education have come to be viewed as a social investment that contributes towards reducing parental stress and helping parents to manage their work–life balance. European Member States provide support for parenting in many different ways, from very practical medical-based interventions such as support with breastfeeding, to programmes that aim to increase the confidence and self-esteem of parents and thus improve their relationship with their children. This report gives an up-to-date overview of the main elements of parenting support services and the structure of services across Europe. It includes more detailed information about parenting support in seven Member States: Austria, Belgium, Estonia, Hungary, Ireland, Portugal and Sweden. The report summarises common challenges faced by all providers of parenting support, and concludes with policy recommendations based on what has been observed to work in different countries.