Home Care Service Workers and Active Retirement

Spanish regulations grant professionals the option of accessing early retirement due to the nature of their work “in those groups or professional activities whose jobs are exceptionally arduous, toxic, dangerous, or unhealthy and exhibit high morbidity or mortality rates”. Currently, this option is legally recognized for certain professionals in the railway, bullfighting, and public entertainment sectors, as well as flight technical crew members in airline companies or passenger and goods transportation, considering these professional groups as particularly hazardous.

The professional activities carried out by home care service workers could meet the conditions to be classified as a professional group eligible for early retirement in Spain, as indicated in the study presented in this work. This is because this group shows significant health deterioration among its workers, with an increased risk of developing conditions that affect their physical and mental health as their years of professional activity increase. This is a consequence of the specific nature of their professional duties, which are characterized by providing care to people in situations of dependency.