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Methodology

Research design

The project adopts a multilevel perspective including:

  • the national level – which will be influenced by the country-specific regulatory and institutional framework;
  • the organizational level, considering the strategic agency displayed by the social partners within the national regulatory and institutional set of constraints and opportunities;
  • the individual level looking at workers’/caregivers’ perceptions in terms of job quality and effectiveness of collective representation.

Furthermore, the project adopts a comparative approach. All the research activities will be based on the systematic analysis and comparison across the six countries investigated in the project (Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Slovakia), selected to account for the heterogeneity of labour regulation and industrial relations models present in Europe.

Method

At the national level, the country-specific configuration, structure, and coverage of collective bargaining, as well as the structure, characteristics, and representativeness of all the social partners are investigated through a systematic literature review and data collection through a structured questionnaire submitted to all the relevant social partners in the ECEC and LTC services.

The mapping activities carried out at the national level will constitute the analytical backdrop to contextualize and understand the organizational practices at the meso level. The analysis of the repertoire of actions and initiatives adopted by the social partners is implemented through a qualitative case studies analysis. The cases selected represent relevant practices and actions oriented to i) extend collective bargaining coverage in the care sector; ii) increase social partners membership; iii) promote the use of social dialogue bilateral/trilateral bodies to design initiatives to tackle issues of skill and labour shortage.

A micro-level analysis based on focus groups will investigate the workers’/caregivers’ individual positioning and perceptions in terms of job quality, working conditions, and collective representation in the care sector.

Finally, close-door workshops are organised to raise awareness and activation, as well as to engage the relevant stakeholders in the care sector on the critical issues of the quantity and quality of work.