“Women are historically caregivers, they invented assistance on a social, family and also research level. We must give value to the care work of women caregivers and recognize it both on a social level and on that of the development of skills. Giving value means 'enhance' these skills both through their recognition and by transferring them to the workplace and career progression”. This was said by the Minister of Family and Equal Opportunities, Eugenia Roccella, speaking today in the Senate at the presentation of the white paper 'Women and rare diseases: impact on life and expectations for the future', during the final event of the campaign promoted by Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease together with Uniamo (Italian Federation of Rare Diseases), with the participation of Fondazione Onda Ets, EngageMinds Hun and Altems of the Catholic University.
The document shows that 37% of the respondents to the sample survey were not present on the job market and, of these, one in 5 declared that they had lost their job or had given up on it. Of the employed caregivers, 51% have a full-time employment contract, while 49% work part-time. Furthermore, the survey shows that 8 out of 10 women have had to change their professional activity due to their role with consequent changes at a career level, almost always of a pejorative nature, such as taking on less senior roles, a lower workload hours or the request for more days of rest. Among the reasons behind the change in their work situation, in addition to the need to balance work and care (23%), the respondents to the survey reported reasons attributable to an inefficient healthcare organisation, which includes hospital admissions and frequent medical or check-up visits.
“Women are caregivers because they spontaneously tend to take care of the needs of others. And they have often done so through a history of exclusion and personal sacrifices. Even today, when there should be more equal opportunities, we women are the ones who sacrifice ourselves. element of care and hospitality, of taking on the needs of others, is not something that I, personally, would feel like giving up easily, but on the other hand, the ability to taking care cannot be penalizing.” It is a topic that “we must all take charge of, for example by developing skills during the care process which can then be valorised to transfer them to recognition in the world of work. We must give more social value to the role of caregivers, not consider it just a side in the shade”, concludes Roccella.
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