With an ageing population and the growing need for care throughout life, the measure ‘Barcelona towards the right to care 2025-2030’ sets out a roadmap to guarantee the universal right to care and be cared for in decent conditions, recognising care as an essential asset to be guaranteed by public administrations. The plan envisages an investment of 140.5 million euros and includes over 100 actions in four main areas: public services, the care economy, support for carers and feminist alliances.
In 2040, one in four people in Barcelona will be aged over 65. Today, 21% of the population are already over that age and one in five people live alone. Other figures show that 22% of households have children and teenagers, with 13.4% of these single-parent families, mainly headed by women. In addition, over half of children under 2 do not go to nursery school.
There are 339,000 people providing unpaid care in Barcelona and nearly six in ten carers are women.
This context makes the current care model unsustainable. Ageing, longer lives and the loss of family networks demand a thorough revamp and structural transformation of the care system to guarantee equity, sustainability and innovation throughout life.
The government measure ‘Barcelona towards the right to care (2025-2030)’ contemplates over a hundred actions in this sphere, with new proposals, others that substantially build on existing ones and others to be consolidated. All these steps are organised into four areas:
Area 1: Stronger public services
The goal is to reduce social and gender inequalities in the provision of care. The Home Support Service (SAD) will get a boost with a new tendering process to improve the quality of the service and add new professional profiles. There would also be a further 27.5 million euros to promote housing with services for the elderly, plus 27.2 million euros for the creation of new nursery schools.
Area 2: Promotion of the care economy
The vision of care as a strategic economic sector is being adopted for the first time, with 12 million euros earmarked to help professionalise the sector, generate quality jobs and develop sustainable business models.
A new hub for economic activity is to be launched at C/ Almogàvers, 165, centring on social and technological innovation in care. The space will include training, support for talent, enterprise and funding to turn this sector into a driver for quality employment and economic development.
Area 3: Recognition and support for carers and joint responsibility of men to foster co-responsibility
The Carer Card will have more services and advantages, with the Well-being and Community Care Service to be rolled out in neighbourhood centres. The active involvement of men in child-rearing and care will also be promoted in homes and communities alike, with training and action in family activities, nursery schools, parents’ groups etc.
Area 4: Construction of feminist alliances
This area promotes a cultural change that recognises care as a fundamental pilar of society. It entails actions to include care as a right in the city’s human rights charter, strengthen the fight against discrimination and the types of violence that affect women workers in this sector, establishing alliances with local and international organisations to generate knowledge and drive good practice.