Domestic workers worldwide lack legal protections

Wed, 09 Jan 2013 17:34:00 +0000

Domestic work accounts for 7.5 percent of women's waged employment worldwide, but is regularly characterized by poor working conditions and insufficient legal protection, according to a new report from the U.N.'s International Labor Organization (ILO) released Wednesday.

Over 52 million people -- predominantly women -- worldwide are employed as domestic workers, an increase of over 19 million workers since the mid-1990s, according to the report, which notes that its figures are likely considerable underestimations as the domestic workforce is hard to accurately survey. Of these millions of workers, ILO found, "only 10 percent of all domestic workers (or 5.3 million) are covered by general labor legislation to the same extent as other workers. By contrast, more than one-quarter – 29.9 percent, or some 15.7 million domestic workers – are completely excluded from the scope of national labor legislation."

The report highlighted "working time" as one of the biggest problems for the domestic workforce: "More than half of all domestic workers have no limitation on their weekly normal hours under national law, and approximately 45 percent have no entitlement to weekly rest periods."

Fighting our new nanny economy

Thu, 29 Nov 2012 13:24:00 +0000

Job seekers, take note: Massive opportunities in a growing sector of the economy! Perks include low pay -- often below the state minimum wage -- no retirement or pension benefits, often no health insurance, a pretty significant likelihood of stress injuries, and lack of legal protections against harm in the workplace. As a bonus, you'll be told you're "part of the family" -- though what that actually means really depends on your employer's individual generosity.

Just take your pick from being a nanny, housekeeper or elder caregiver, the jobs included in a groundbreaking new study on domestic labor released this week, which surveyed over 2,000 domestic workers from around the country (and in nine different languages). Such jobs grew almost 10 percent between 2004 and 2010, according to census data, which didn't include related categories like cooks and chauffeurs. Ninety-five percent of such workers are female; they are overwhelmingly women of color and immigrants. (An actual, grim bonus: You can't be outsourced.)

Salon.com > National Domestic Workers Alliance

Domestic workers worldwide lack legal protections

Fighting our new nanny economy