Leipzig – On November 28, 2025, care workers, feminists, and trade unionists will meet in Leipzig to discuss how precarious working conditions and gender inequalities in care work can be overcome. The day will feature a variety of workshops as well as regional and national networking opportunities focusing on strategies for organizing people to bring about change in care work.
"The current crisis in daycare centers in Saxony, but also nationwide, and the nursing shortage in hospitals show: The Working conditions in paid care work must finally change! says Katharina Raschdorf, industry coordinator for the social and educational services at ver.di for Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia.
Besides colleagues in daycare centers, schools, hospitals, and elderly care facilities, family caregivers and parents also suffer under poor conditions. Chronic stress leads to frequent sick leave or job changes, which exacerbates the staff shortage. Around 80 percent of caregivers are women. Likewise burdened The poor pay and low social recognition of many care workers.
The burden is also increasing for family caregivers – approximately 70% of whom are women. In the last five years, the average weekly caregiving time has risen from 43 to 49 hours. This contributes to almost 25 percent of family caregivers reducing or completely giving up their own employment to provide care.
There is a willingness to take good care of one another: A study from 2022 calculated that an additional 300.000 full-time nurses would be available if working conditions were to improve sustainably. "The current Cuts significantly worsen the situation. Burned out Kindergarten teachers, closed counseling center or waiting for hours in the emergency room: Care work is devalued and exploited.” says Chris Neuffer, an employee at Konzeptwerk Neue Ökonomie.
The situation in Saxony is particularly tense right now: daycare centers and kindergartens are threatened with closure, and childcare workers face dismissal. Hospitals are also being hit by cutbacks and bankruptcies: while 40% of Saxony's population lives in small towns or rural areas, more and more hospitals are announcing the closure of departments and locations. The hospital reform risks becoming a public health hazard.
"To prevent this, we must unite: those who provide care work and those who receive it. Care work is the foundation of our society, which is why we now need strong alliances that expose precarious working conditions and organize and support labor struggles for care justice. This is precisely where the conference comes in. says Chris Neuffer.
We cordially invite you to attend the conference and cover it as a journalist.!
Date: November 28, 2025, 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Location: Kulturwerkstatt KAOS, Wasserstrasse 18, 04177 Leipzig
program: https://konzeptwerk-neue-oekonomie.org/termin/fachtag-chancengleichheit/
About the Konzeptwerk Neue Ökonomie
The Konzeptwerk Neue Ökonomie is a think tank that has been developing alternatives for an ecologically and socially just economy since 2011. It has been producing [something] since 2023. Konzeptwerk Neue Ökonomie The podcast “Thank You for Nothing,” which deals, among other things, with feminist labor struggles in care work. This year, Konzeptwerk also organized the four-part online workshop series “When Do We Meet?”, which focused on the perspectives and visions of colleagues from the care sector.
Links
- Bertelsmann study: Skilled worker radar for daycare centers and primary schools (2023)
- Study “I will become a caregiver again when…” (2022)
- Daycare Crisis Book (Rosa Luxemburg Foundation)
- Black Book Hospital (Rosa Luxemburg Foundation)
- Black Book Hospital Website
- Foundation Center for Quality in Care, focus: Family Caregivers
- Forsa survey commissioned by the scientific institute of the AOK: “Home care in focus: personal contributions, burdens and financial costs”