INEGI: 99 out of 100 domestic workers work without a contract

As part of the International Day of Domestic Workers commemorated on 30 March, the National Institute of Statistics and Geography announced that there are 1.8 million domestic workers in the country who carry out cleaning and other complementary activities.

Of this number, 99 out of 100 women workers do not have a written contract. This has an impact on their work, both for access to fair wages and for benefits and economic support provided by their employers, it should be noted that currently only 4 out of 100 have access to health services; and only 14 out of 50 have any other type of benefits, such as bonuses and holidays.

According to the institution, on average, they work 30 hours a week and earn an income of 38 pesos per hour worked. However, for every 100 of them, 42 work days of 35 or more hours, 40 work 15-34 hours, and 18 women work less than 15 hours a week.

Considering the different ranges of monthly minimum wage, 58% of domestic workers receive from one to less than a minimum wage. 38% earn one to two minimum wages and 4% receive more than two to three minimum wages for their services. This reflects that working hours are long and income is scarce.

Added to this is the inequality in the resources they can access. The average schooling of domestic workers is 8.2 years, equivalent to the second grade of secondary school. According to the level of education, 5% did not receive any type of instruction in formal education, 37% have primary education, 41% in secondary education and 17% in upper secondary and higher education.

It should be added that women domestic workers are on average 44 years of age, so they are mainly concentrated in the 30-44 and 45-59 age groups, both groups representing 75 per cent of domestic workers who provide their services on a paid basis.

The predominant occupation of domestic worker is that which refers to the performance of cleaning and other complementary activities (86%). It is followed by the care of minors, people with disabilities and older adults (11%), washing and ironing clothes (2%) and occupations related to cooking, gardening, monitoring or taking care of access to properties (1%), all of them in private homes.

In 2019, 14.8 million people were engaged in paid domestic work in Latin America and the Caribbean. At the beginning of the decade, in 2012, there were an estimated 14.2 million in the region, representing a gradual increase over the past 7 years. Currently, according to the ILO, of the more than 14.8 million domestic workers in the region, only 4 million have access to their labour and social security rights.

It should be added that as a result, various groups have decided to form unions that would allow them to advocate for their rights: in the country, for example, on 30 August 2015, more than 50 domestic workers decided to form a trade union. “It is time for unions, employers and the State to sit down to take work out of the home from informality and lead it towards equality,” the representative added that year.

Thanks to the work of these organizations, in December 2018, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation of Mexico declared the exclusion of domestic workers from compulsory social security unconstitutional and instructed the IMSS, so that now anyone who wishes can join the program.

According to information from the National Council for the Prevention of Discrimination (CONAPRED), the International Day of Domestic Workers is a commemorative and vindication of labour rights in this sector and differs from unpaid.

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