Platformization of care in Europe: comparative analysis of marketization trends and business models

Purpose We investigate how digital care platforms contribute to the marketization of care across the European Union (EU) by analyzing their business models and national variations. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on a dataset from the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) and extensive hand-coding, we identify 100 care platforms and examine their characteristics using a novel three-dimensional analytical framework: scope of commodification, platform governance and distribution of market risks. Findings Our findings show that while care platforms share features with other digital labor platforms, the intimate, relational and non-standardized nature of care work limits algorithmic control and commodification. Nonetheless, care platforms contribute to marketization by intermediating a wide range of services, including emerging categories like pet care and tutoring and relying predominantly on marketplace models that shift risk onto workers. Importantly, we uncover cross-national variation: the Nordic countries, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands host more regulated platform models with less reliance on market mechanisms, whereas Eastern Europe is dominated by marketplace models. These patterns align with broader care regime typologies and suggest that care platforms both adapt to and reshape national care markets. Originality/value Our study offers the first comparative empirical overview of care platform business models across the EU and highlights the need for more nuanced, context-sensitive research to understand their evolving role in care provision. This complements existing research on platform workers' experiences of precarity and informality by showing that these are linked to care platform business models. Our findings have implications for platform regulation, addressing issues of care provision and (informal) labor.