Care at home

Daughter as caregiver: “I’m now there for my mom”

Daniela Schneider with her mother Margarete Zapfel

(Bild: Daniela Schneider)

Today is not only Mother's Day, but also Caregiver's Day. A woman from southern Burgenland has given up her job to care for her mother. The employment through the state helps her.

Margarete Zapfel from Eisenberg suffers from multiple sclerosis, care level 4. At some point, she could no longer live alone in her apartment. Her daughter Daniela Schneider therefore decided to give up her job in 2020 at the age of almost 30 to care for her mother at home. Otherwise, she would no longer have been able to manage the balancing act between work and caring for her mother.

"I didn't want to put my mother in an old people's home at the age of 55, it was a matter of course for me to care for her. When I was little, my mother looked after us, she always did everything for me and my two siblings. Now it's the other way around," explains Schneider. Her mother always wanted to grow old at home. She now sees her grandchildren growing up close to her and also takes on the role of grandma.

The employment model helps with caring for the mother

(Bild: Daniela Schneider)

Thanks to the Burgenland model for family caregivers, she is now employed by the state. She earns around 1800 euros net for 30 hours of care per week, plus vacation pay, pension provision and social security contributions. "The fact that this work is also financially rewarded means more than appreciation for us as a family, especially in times of inflation. Our family can live well and securely with this model," says Schneider. Mother's Day is celebrated together as a family today.

307 families are already using the employment model
According to a survey conducted by the state, 99% of all Burgenlanders want to be cared for in their own four walls in old age. The employment model for family caregivers, which has been in place since autumn 2019, is intended to help make this possible. It is currently used by 307 families.

At 40 hours, the minimum wage is now €2,270 net, 14 times a year. "With our Burgenland employment model, we are the only federal state to have responded to this reality of life," says Governor Hans Peter Doskozil (SPÖ). In January, it was extended to persons of trust without a family relationship.

The often difficult task of caregiving is largely carried out by women. They deserve to be protected financially and under social law.

Landeshauptmann Hans Peter Doskozil (SPÖ)

Doskozil also emphasizes that care is a key issue. After all, 30 percent of people in Burgenland are over 60 years old.