Labour Shortages and Poor Working Conditions are Key Determinants of Quality of Services for Children, Says EUROFOUND Report

Labour Shortages and Poor Working Conditions are Key Determinants of Quality of Services for Children, Says EUROFOUND Report

EUROFOUND Report “Working for children matters: An overview of service delivery and workforce in Europe”, published in July 2025, provides an overview of the state of play of key services to tackle child poverty and children’s well-being, including healthcare education, and early childhood education and care (ECEC). In particular, it studies their working conditions and how they can be improved as well as ways to enhance recruitment and retention.

The report notes the existence of widespread labour shortages in Europe related to services for children. Nursing professionals, doctors, healthcare assistants, early childhood educators and special needs teachers were among the top 30 occupations with the most widespread labour shortages in 2023.

Labour shortages and poor staff working conditions are key aspects that hinder the effective access to high-quality services:

• In ECEC, the staff-child ratio and group size are key to quality/accessibility (a larger staff/child ratio and smaller group size may foster high-quality interactions between educators and less-advantaged children, as these children may require additional support and attention from staff). Moreover, accommodating children with special educational needs is a source of stress for ECEC staff, and an area in which they indicate further training is needed. Other conditions such as salaries and wages, contractual status and working time, the physical and psychosocial environment (e.g. availability of sufficient space and materials/tools) are also key quality determinants.
• In primary and secondary education, the lack of attractiveness of the teaching profession among the younger population is a key driver of teacher shortages. A lack of career prospects, working time and job content issues, support from colleagues and superiors, and job satisfaction issues also have a direct impact on the quality of services.
• In Healthcare Services, the existing shortage of healthcare professionals across Europe is driven due to challenging working conditions and poor work-life balance of healthcare workers, aggravated by the COVID-19 crisis. Psychosocial risks (e.g. psychological stress, fatigue, anxiety and depression) and burnout problems are key elements underpinning the working conditions among healthcare professionals.

EUROFOUND “Working for children matters: An overview of service delivery and workforce in Europe” report available here.