Men in Home Employment Jobs: Changing Perceptions, Recognizing Skills

Home Employment Jobs: Persistent Stereotypes

According to the French Observatory of Inequalities, 68% of women cook and clean daily (compared with 43% of men), and 31%⁽¹⁾ care for a relative or child every day (compared with 23% of men). These figures illustrate the deeply gendered nature of domestic tasks, which directly influences perceptions of home employment professions.

"You don’t have a maternal instinct," 22-year-old Steven was told before giving up on becoming a childminder. Pierrick, 48, remembers comments such as: “Some trainers told me they wouldn’t trust me with their children.” These testimonies, taken from the study “Gender and Home Employment Professionals”, highlight the challenges men face in finding their place in the sector.

Conducted in 2024 within the framework of the Technical Committee for Job and Qualification Observation (CPNEFP), the study focused on four occupations: childminder, childcare provider, personal carer, and family assistant. It reveals how suspicion, stereotypes, and social judgment influence men’s employability and affect the attractiveness of the sector.

In Practice, Skills Speak for Themselves

Despite these barriers, men who choose these jobs often do so against prevailing social expectations. Yet the sense of exclusion tends to diminish once they are actually working. Perceptions toward male professionals evolve quickly in real-life practice: "Being a man made the beginning a bit difficult, but that’s no longer the case. I’ve built my reputation," says Louis, 50, a childminder.

In home employment, word-of-mouth is crucial: the quality of support, the relationship of trust, and professional skills ultimately outweigh prejudices—benefiting men as much as women. Essential competencies such as listening, empathy, adaptability, and professionalism are not gender-specific. Training and professionalisation help develop, recognise, and value these skills for all workers, regardless of gender.

Diverse Career Paths, Often Marked by Career Change

Another key finding: men working in the sector often come from different professional backgrounds. Many start a second career driven by a desire for meaning, social utility, or personal circumstances. Alberto, who became a care assistant later in life, explains: "When my father developed health issues and my mother became too old, I offered to take them in. To support them properly, I trained to become a care assistant."

Men are also attracted to the sector because of the autonomy inherent in the private employer–employee relationship: being able to organise one’s work and align one’s practice with personal ethics.

Fewer men choose this path as a natural continuation of studies or early career aspirations, motivated by a long-standing interest in care-related fields.

But they all share the same conviction: helping others is a real profession, deserving recognition and respect—just like for their female colleagues. Finding meaning in one’s work is not a matter of gender.

Attracting and Retaining Men: A Skills-Driven Approach

Society is evolving, and so is the home employment sector—for the better. By placing skills at the heart of career pathways, the sector can attract a broader range of profiles, leading to more gender diversity. The goal is not to “feminize” or “masculinize” the jobs, but to acknowledge the professional value of all those who support private employers every day.

To promote recognition beyond gender, several concrete levers can be activated:

• Amplify the voices of male professionals already working in the sector ;
• Develop partnerships with employment guidance stakeholders ;
• Raise awareness among training organisations and employers about gender diversity ;
• Promote professionalisation, the only reliable way to validate technical and relational competencies.

^{(1) : European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), French Observatory of Inequalities, 2022}