The Munich-Land district association of the Frauen-Union (FU) is committed to upgrading 24-hour care in the field of care and anchoring it in law as a new third pillar alongside outpatient and inpatient care. The district association has submitted a corresponding application to the state assembly of the Bavarian Women’s Union. 24-hour care in one’s own home must be “affordable, legal and legally secure for everyone involved,” demands district chairwoman Annette Reiter-Schumann. Such a legal anchoring would take into account the wishes of those in need of care, as well as their relatives and many caregivers.
Surveys confirm that most people would like to grow old in their own homes for as long as possible, even if they do need support or care at some point. However, permanent care at home by a nurse is expensive – at least since the Federal Labor Court clarified in June 2021 that foreign nurses who work in Germany are also entitled to the German minimum wage, even during standby times. After the verdict, care associations feared that the previous system of home care, which relies primarily on women from Eastern Europe in the area of 24-hour care, could now collapse. The Frauen Union München-Land now wants to put pressure on this issue and find solutions. The district association has set up a new working group for this purpose.