Women’s family care work is limiting their earning and pensions

Women carry out 70% of the family care work in Ireland, thus limiting their earning power and reducing the size of their pension on retirement.

Furthermore research has shown 50% of female workers earn less than €20,000 a year. The median Irish wage is €28,500.

UCD academic Maggie Feeley says women can often get caught in the ‘care trap’ because of the prohibitive costs and poor availability of childcare services. They can become the default carer in the home and leave the workplace as a result.