Who Cares? Feminised care labour and the crisis of social reproduction in post-socialist Bulgaria

The report presents data from a qualitative research project conducted between January and September 2024 across various fields — education, healthcare, and care for the elderly, children, and people with disabilities. A total of 40 women working in these spheres of work were interviewed in 17 different locations across Bulgaria. It features the voices of nurses, midwives, caregivers, kindergarten educators, primary school teachers, personal assistants, social assistants, and social workers. We also interviewed women working as caregivers and personal assistants abroad. The research identifies some of the key issues characteristic of the care sector in Bulgaria. Most importantly, it identifies Bulgaria as a place where the global supply care chain breaks. Due to emigration of qualified and unqualified care workers to developed countries especially in Western Europe, low financial and moral recognition of care work and a restrictive border regime in Bulgaria, the country experiences severe shortages across the care sector, and thus an acute care deficit. As a result, in Bulgaria the healthcare, early education, and the social care systems all rely on the overtime and overload of care labour done by elderly women, many of whom are themselves living with disabilities and facing physical and financial difficulties. The report also identifies struggles and possibilities for solidarity, awareness raising and lobbying across the sector and society.