Franziska Büschelberger (she/her)
It is not acceptable for work to be seen as a weakness in economic terms just because it is unpaid.
I am a single mother of two now almost grown-up sons and can look back on 30 years in research and development.
In 2023, I set up my own business with my heart’s desire and offer analyses of employee well-being in companies. This enables me to reduce staff turnover and sickness rates in companies and support employees with family-related stress.
I train employees and managers to be honest with themselves and each other and help them to honestly express their needs again. As we always carry our basic needs within us and cannot discard them on the way to work, my approach is holistic.
The basis of my work is an anonymous digital questionnaire that records people’s well-being and, once evaluated, makes obstacles and correlations visible.
On 26.04.2024, I founded Unpaid Care Work, a fictitious company on LinkedIn that allows people to make their unpaid care work visible. I hadn’t expected the wave that I triggered. Within 9 weeks, over 11,000 people followed Unpaid Care Work, 2,300 actively linked the company under their work experience and over 60 people listed it as an educational institution under their training.
A political say based on democratic referendums.
I am tired of private care and nursing responsibilities being seen as a weakness in economic terms. Parents or caregivers should not have to apologize or be denied the ability to do anything economically. It must not be the case that private care responsibilities result in disadvantages in terms of employment or financial security.
Care work and the conflict between care work and gainful employment makes many people believe that they are weak, and I wanted to change that!
Acceptance and appreciation always starts on a small scale, with ourselves. That’s why I gave people something they can do for themselves. Something that makes their hidden achievements visible and raises them to an appreciative and, above all, professional level. Because this work is not only an economic contribution, but also leads to the development of competencies and skills that we take with us into our professional lives and apply there!
Unpaid Care Work was founded on LinkedIn and is just going the extra mile to enable everyone to list their caring responsibilities in their CVs at a low threshold. We will support employers in dealing with this.
Unpaid Care Work will become an umbrella for all people and initiatives that are committed to this topic. We will actively listen to what people and the economy need and build a network in which we pool all needs, knowledge and experience.
We will make performance, injustice and needs visible and enter into dialog in order to find solutions together that all those involved can support. Just because we cannot yet see solutions does not mean that they do not exist.
Care work is an achievement! And as such, it should be seen, recognized and valued. We should also redefine terms such as high achievers and “creating value”.
Just because it is unpaid, performance should not be seen as a weakness in economic terms. It is a social and economic contribution; values are created here that are fundamental! People who are unable to do paid work due to unpaid work must not be threatened with poverty at any time in their lives.
The economy must become more open and courageous! Courage to open up to new solutions together with parents and carers.
Politicians must become more humane and better listeners and take an honest interest in the needs of people in our society.
Recognition, appreciation and change always start on a small scale with ourselves. When we start to recognize the work we do in secret as an achievement and talk about it honestly, we lay the foundation for others to do the same and appreciate it. Unpaid Care Work stands by people’s side so that nobody has to feel ashamed or hide.
Parents, especially mothers, are denied the right to make an economic contribution by accompanying their children for 18 years and preparing them for life. At the same time, however, they are expected by society, business and politics to please be successful in this task! The reason for this expectation is obvious: our children form the future society and generate our future values. They are not only the employees of tomorrow, they are the economic drivers of tomorrow!
Accompanying people with dignity in difficult circumstances and on their final journey through life is not only part of our social responsibility, but also an expression of social gratitude – namely for the values they have created for us and for the paths they have paved for us.
Our society needs a healthy foundation and a strong backbone on which to build our future, and both are fundamentally created by care work!
I come from a research background. When I think of diversity, I think of the colorful abundance of nature and living creatures that our world offers us.
But we humans are also diverse. We offer such a wide range of appearance, culture, character, strength, knowledge, family structure and so on. Our creativity, emotions, value systems, rituals and perspectives can both divide and unite us. The latter, i.e. bringing understanding and connection to each other, is something I am passionate about.
