'Care work: Current understandings and future directions' is a European Union funded research project into current care services in Europe and the future development of employment in this sector. It covers a wide range of services and occupations working with children, young people and adults. The project team is made up of research and development institutions from six countries in Europe: Denmark, Hungary, The Netherlands, Spain and Sweden, co-ordinated by Professor Peter Moss and Dr Claire Cameron of the Thomas Coram Research Unit, Institute of Education, the University of London. The project has three stages: - Mapping current carework and reviewing research on quality, job satisfaction and gender. - Understanding the theory and practice of care work with different groups in different settings. - Identifying new directions and innovative developments in care work. It will also develop methods for the cross-national study of practice in human services. Information in six languages on the project's aims and methods and details of the research partners is available. Reports from each stage of the study are downloadable and are now available on: - concepts of care; - the care workforce and the carework domain; - mapping care services and the care workforce, both in the partner countries and from an overall European perspective. This project is funded under the European Union's Fifth Framework Programme.