Every day, millions of people across Europe rely on the dedication of personal and household services (PHS) workers. They provide care or domestic support to people in their own homes. They can have many different roles - a home assistant who looks after children, the elderly or people with disabilities; a care assistant who takes care of basic everyday tasks - cooking, cleaning, gardening and more. Despite the importance of this work, the home care and services sector has only recently started to receive the recognition and support it deserves.
We are launching a survey to better understand the sector. The Tulip Foundation is involved in its implementation, together with the EU social partners in the field of personal and household services (PHS): EFFAT, EFFE, EFSI and UNI Europa.
Visit the website in Bulgarian https://phs-monitor.eu/bg?src=effe or in English language https://phs-monitor.eu/en?src=effe and share your experiences by 6 April 2026. All your responses will be completely anonymous and will be processed in accordance with our privacy policy.
Share the survey with colleagues, partners and your networks. Active participation ensures clear, representative evidence, and strong evidence makes it impossible for care work to be overlooked. The questionnaire gives people from all over Europe the opportunity to share their experiences with personal and household services. Whether you work in home care or household services, employ someone to provide care or household support, or receive care at home - your voice matters.
The survey is available in around 40 languages and will run until 6 April. Our aim is to capture real-life experiences by making care work visible and recognised by policymakers across Europe.
Personal and household services are at the heart of our daily lives. From childcare and eldercare to cleaning, cooking and other household chores, millions of people rely on these services to live independently, balance work and family, and stay active in their communities. Yet, despite its vital importance, care work often remains invisible.
Clear, representative evidence is key to change. The 2024 PHS Employment Monitor collected over 6,000 responses across Europe. The results were cited by the OECD, the International Labour Organization, the European Commission, Eurofound and national ministries. The 2026 survey builds on the same concept, expanding participation to include underrepresented countries, migrant communities and care users, providing a full picture of how care and household support is organised across Europe.
The 2026 study is part of the SCALE UP project, a two-year EU-funded initiative designed to strengthen sectoral social dialogue between EFFE, EFSI, EFFAT and UNI Europa in the field of personal and household services. SCALE UP builds on a decade of cooperation and previous EU-funded projects, including PHSDialogue, and takes an innovative approach to connecting the realities of workers, consumers and employers at local and national level with social dialogue at EU level.
The project supports both employers' organisations (EFFE, EFSI) and trade union organisations (EFFAT, UNI Europa), enabling them to recruit new national partners, strengthen collective bargaining structures and contribute directly to the social dialogue at EU level. EU-level working and plenary group meetings provide opportunities to exchange views, reach common positions and provide information on European legislative programmes, including the EU Care Strategy, the Directive on Minimum Wage and Collective Bargaining, and the future of the European Pillar of Social Rights. By participating in the survey, you help to show what care and domestic work really looks like across Europe. Your answers will feed into discussions on working conditions, social protection, quality and affordable care, gender equality and migration in the sector. Whether you are a worker, employer or person receiving care/services, your experience is essential to create evidence that policymakers cannot ignore. Every response increases the visibility of care work and contributes to shaping better policies and fairer practices in Europe.
