Domestic Workers: Issues and Challenges

Domestic Worker

All India Survey on Domestic Workers

Majority consists of women

Too vast and unregulated

Mostly permanent

Most of these are from vulnerable communities

To do the household work

Most of them are migrant workers

It would help find percentage distribution domestic workers

To estimate the number and proportion of domestic workers at National and State level

Why need such Survey?

Dearth of data on the magnitude and prevailing employment

Domestic workers (DWs) constitute a significant portion of total employment in the informal sector.

Issues associated with domestic workers in India

Child labour issue

Denial of Minimum wages

No social security

Cases of torture, beatings, sexual assault, and incarceration

Vulnerable sections involved

Hired and fired at will

ILO's Convention on Domestic Workers

Not ratified yet

India is a signatory

Way forward

Addressing society’s devaluation of housework

Improving these employees’ abysmal working conditions and terms

Enacting a Domestic Workers Regulation of Work and Social Security Act