Live-In Care After the Pandemic in Germany: Business as Usual after a Focusing Event

This paper examines live-in care in Germany in the aftermath of the first few waves of the Covid-19 pandemic. It takes as starting point the observation that policy process literature is generally better at explaining policy change than elucidating the status quo persisting despite shock events. Covid-19 was such an event — it had the potential to prompt German authorities to regulate the activities of agencies recruiting workers in Eastern Europe and placing them in German households. Despite pre-existing problems with live-in care provision and increased media attention prompted by the pandemic, policy reform did not occur. Based on in-depth interviews with migrant live-in care workers active in Germany, interviews with experts and stakeholders, and media analysis, the contribution investigates the reasons for this policy inertia. Why has a 'policy window' not opened or if it did, why did it not elicit or accelerate policy change?