The European care strategy (2022) and the gender equality strategy 2026–2030 both highlight the need to reduce gender inequalities in care, especially the unequal sharing of childcare within households. A key dimension of this challenge lies in how couples organise paid work. Whether both partners work full-time, only one does, or neither does, can shape who provides care, how families use formal childcare services or informal support, and how easily parents balance work and family life.
Drawing on EU-level data from the second wave of the CARE Survey, conducted by EIGE in 2024, this data talk examines how childcare responsibilities, reliance on informal support (mainly relatives), use of childcare services, unmet childcare needs and work–life balance differ across couples’ employment patterns.
The findings show that childcare remains strongly gendered regardless of how couples divide paid work. Women are more likely to provide intensive childcare, the use of childcare services tends to decline when women are not in full-time employment, and unmet childcare needs persist even when one partner is outside full-time work. Together, these findings show that childcare arrangements are shaped not only by parents’ time, but also by persistent gender norms and constraints in access to support.
Women carry the bulk of intensive childcare regardless of couples’ employment status
Women are consistently more likely than men to provide intensive care (35 hours or more per week) to children under 12, whether both partners work full-time, only one does or neither does.
The imbalance is most pronounced when the respondent is not in full-time employment while their partner is. In these couples, 56 % of women provide high-intensity childcare compared with 24 % of men. Substantial differences persist across other employment arrangements, including when both partners work full-time (37 % of women versus 21 % of men) and when neither partner is in full-time employment (31 % versus 18 %). These figures show that employment status alone does not level the playing field. Gender norms continue to shape who takes on the most demanding care tasks.
A closer look at couples where the respondent is not in full-time employment while their partner works full-time reveals that this group is predominantly female (85 %). Most of these women are employed part‑time or engaged in domestic tasks, highlighting how women’s labour‑market choices are closely intertwined with caregiving expectations (Figure 1).
Within this group, women report higher levels of intensive childcare than men across all employment categories (Figure 2), suggesting that the gender differences in childcare cannot be explained by labour market participation alone.
Taken together, these patterns show that employment arrangements within couples do not erase gender inequalities in childcare. Even when women work full-time or when men have more time available for care, intensive childcare still falls on women. Efforts to improve gender equality in employment therefore need to address not only access to childcare services, but also the unequal share of care within families.
Men rely more on informal childcare support across all couple employment arrangements
The use of informal childcare support, such as weekly help from family, friends or neighbours, varies across couple employment arrangements, but follows a consistent gender pattern. Men rely on informal childcare support more often than women, even in households where women are the main earners.
Informal support is most common in households where neither partner works full-time: 60 % of men rely on informal help compared with 48 % of women. It is least common when the respondent is not in full-time employment while their partner is: 46 % men versus 29 % women. These differences suggest that informal childcare networks serve multiple purposes beyond covering standard working hours, including helping families manage irregular schedules, job-search activities and other family responsibilities.
Overall, these findings highlight the continuing importance of informal support within families’ care arrangements. Informal networks complement childcare services and help families manage care responsibilities across different employment situations. Ensuring access to both childcare services and wider informal support may therefore be essential for work–life balance and advancing gender equality in employment.
Formal childcare use drops when women are not employed full-time
Use of early childhood education and care (ECEC) services is broadly similar across couples’ employment arrangements, but gender differences emerge when one partner is not working full-time. Families are less likely to use services if that partner is a woman rather than a man. A similar pattern appears for out-of-school services for children aged 6–11. These services are also used more when women are employed full-time.
Together, these findings show that decisions about the use of ECEC and out-of-school services are shaped not only by employment arrangements but also by gender norms and expectations around caregiving. When women reduce their working hours or leave employment, families are more likely to shift childcare back into the home rather than rely on formal services. Ensuring affordable and accessible childcare therefore remains important for supporting women’s labour market participation and promoting a more equal sharing of care at home.
Childcare needs stay unmet even when one parent is not working full-time
Unmet need for ECEC services remains substantial across all couples’ employment arrangements, showing that access to care is still a widespread challenge. More than one in four parents report being unable to secure the ECEC services they needed.
Gender differences are most notable in households where one partner is not employed full-time. In these families, women report higher levels of unmet need for both ECEC and out-of-school services than men (31 % women versus 24 % men). This shows that having a parent with more time at home does not guarantee that childcare needs are met.
The lower employment of women does not mean lower demand for childcare services. Rather, unmet childcare needs may hold women back from paid work, with women more likely than men to absorb the consequences when suitable care is unavailable. Ensuring access to childcare is therefore important not only for families’ well-being, but also for advancing gender equality in the labour market.
Work–life balance difficulties extend beyond the employment set-up
Difficulties in combining paid work and childcare are common across all couples’ employment arrangements, but women generally experience more frequent challenges. Women report the highest levels of strain when working full-time, regardless of their partner’s employment status. This shows that being in paid work does not necessarily lead to a more equal sharing of childcare at home.
High levels of difficulty also appear in households where neither partner works full-time, highlighting that care pressures are not limited to dual-earner families.
These findings show that work-life balance difficulties are driven by gendered patterns of caregiving, not just employment arrangements. Addressing these pressures requires not only better access to affordable childcare, but also stronger support for a more equal sharing of care between parents, so that childcare responsibilities do not continue to constrain women’s employment more than men’s.