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Published on: 09/06/2021Updated on: 09/06/2021
2018-2020, a Strategy to Prepare the Future Within the Individual Employment and Domestic Work Sector
In 2018, the professional branches of childcare providers and domestic employees initiated a forward-looking study contract supported by the General Delegation for Employment and Vocational Training (DGEFP) to analyze employment needs and define actions and recommendations. This project, which concluded in late 2020, was coordinated by IPERIA, the national platform for domestic work professionalization, with the association of diverse partners and expertise[1] and an adapted methodology (quantitative and qualitative studies and territorial partnerships). The study results are now available. They mark a milestone in identifying the sector's significant role in the country's economy and social and territorial cohesion.
Committing to the Attractiveness of Home-Based Professions
The country's environmental, economic, and social changes are challenging our perceptions of the home and its role in building social relationships. More than ever, the home is the central space in a person's journey, from early years through maintaining autonomy, including support for working households.Domestic work transforms this intimate space into a place to establish professional practices and develop skills. It becomes a sphere of mutual learning and intergenerational cooperation. The evolution of professions and the professionals who practice them considers all these dimensions.
Observing and forecasting occupational trends are commitments made by the professional branches of the individual employment and domestic work sector, supported by IPERIA, to anticipate these changes. The objective is to identify employees' professionalization needs and propose adapted solutions continuously.
A Sector of Social Utility with Growing Needs
The emerging findings highlight increasing employment pressures. Due to the retirement of most employees, more than 700,000 positions will need to be filled within 10 years. The age pyramid shows an imbalance in the cohort and a loss of resources, leading to labor shortages. At the same time, significant job creation is predicted in aging-related professions due to demographic trends.
In another area, individual childcare professions are experiencing recruitment dynamics in certain places, such as central urban areas. These phenomena represent opportunities to promote professions whose strengths are highlighted by the employees. Working conditions reveal a sector that stands out positively and breaks away from preconceptions:
A Stable and Flexible Sector
Permanent contracts are the norm for sector employees. While part-time work can be challenging when it's involuntary, it also represents a choice that supports work-life balance for many employees.A Sector That Promotes Responsibility
Employees directly manage their working relationship with their employer(s) and are autonomous in managing their daily tasks.A Sector of Social Investment
Professionalization programs serving employees and individual employers have massively encouraged employee participation in training. This is evidenced by their exponential growth over the past 10 years, from 5,700 in 2009 to more than 64,000 in 2019. Additionally, more than 27,000 qualifications have been awarded by IPERIA, the certifying body for the three qualifications "Childcare Provider/Childminder," "Family Assistant," and "Dependency Personal Carer", level 3, supported by the branches and re-registered in the RNCP in June 2020.
The sector is not impervious to significant ongoing changes, such as digital, ecological, and the growing role of social and behavioral skills in professional relationships. These reinforce expectations regarding employee qualifications and confirm the importance of continuously adapting certification policies.
Beyond Observation... 13 Recommendations for Taking Action!
The forward-looking study contract pursues an approach that combines strategic challenges with field realities to contribute to sector attractiveness, retain employees, and meet employment needs—from this work emerged 13 concrete proposals and 13 recommendations for transitioning from observation to action. They form a framework for promoting professions and recognizing skills. Many are unprecedented and innovative, allowing future planning to support individual employers' and employees' projects in a sustainable employment relationship. This approach benefits quality home-based support and professional security for sector members.
Like the territorial studies[2] conducted by IPERIA on sector professions, the challenge is to design solutions and propose alternatives to address tensions in guiding people and their sustainable professional integration. These recommendations outline an action plan that resonates with measures envisaged for local employment recovery concerning the country's health, economic, and social situation. Given its driving role, the effort to observe and support the sector must continue to ensure its development under conditions that guarantee its sustainability. This is especially important as it involves professions essential to the country's life.
[1] Observatory for Family Employment (FEPEM), IRCEM, EDIFIA, BLG Consulting, ITINERE Conseil, Cabinet Ambroise Bouteille.
[2] "Diagnostic of Skills and Employment Needs for Individual Employers' Employees and Childcare Providers in Centre-Val-de-Loire" (2017-2019) supported by DIRECCTE Centre-Val de Loire; Study: "Strengthening the Attractiveness of Individual Childcare Professions: Role and Challenge of MAMs in Hauts-de-France" (2019-2021) supported by DIRECCTE Hauts-de-France; Study: "Meeting Needs and Developing Attractiveness of Professions Related to Loss of Autonomy in the Domestic Work Sector" (2019-2021) supported by DIRECCTE Hauts-de-France; "Study: 'Professionalization of Childcare Providers: A Driver for Attractiveness in Developing Individual Childcare in the Brittany Region?'" (2020-2021) supported by the Brittany Region and DIRECCTE Brittany.
