Today is not only Mother’s Day, but also Care Day. A woman from southern Burgenland gave up her job to care for her mother. The state’s employment opportunities help her with this.
Margarete Zapfel from Eisenberg suffers from multiple sclerosis, care level 4. At one point she could no longer live alone in her apartment. Her daughter Daniela Schneider therefore decided to quit her job in 2020 at the age of almost 30 to care for her mother at home. Otherwise, she would no longer be able to balance work and caring for her mother.
“I didn’t want to put my mother in a nursing home when she was 55. It was natural for me to take care of her. When I was little, my mother took care of us, she always did everything for me and my two siblings. Now it’s the other way around,” says Schneider. Her mother always wanted to grow old at home. She now watches her grandchildren grow up close and also takes on the role of grandmother.
Thanks to the Burgenland model for caring family members, she is now employed by the state. The salary is approximately 1,800 euros net for 30 hours of care per week, plus holiday pay, pension provision and social security contributions. “The fact that the work you do is also financially rewarded means more than appreciation to us as a family, especially in times of rising prices. “Our family can live well and safely with this model,” says Schneider. Today Mother’s Day is celebrated together with the family.
307 families are already using the employment model
According to a state survey, 99 percent of all Burgenland residents want to be cared for within their own four walls as they grow older. The employment model for caring family members, which has been in force since the autumn of 2019, should help make this possible. Currently 307 families use it.
For 40 hours, the minimum wage is now 2,270 euros net, 14 times a year. “We are the only federal state that has responded to this reality of life with our employment model in Burgenland,” says state governor Hans Peter Doskozil (SPÖ). By the way, it was expanded in January to include trusted people without family relationships.
Doskozil also emphasizes that care is an important theme. After all, 30 percent of Burgenlanders are over 60 years old.
Source: Krone
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