In Latin America and the Caribbean important have been registered advances in the legal coverage of people who do domestic workbut the high level of informality in this labor sector and the difficulties in applying the laws leave the majority without any type of social protection, according to a global report released this Thursday by the ILO.
Legal coverage for at least one of the nine social security benefits has reached 97% in the regionwell above the global rate of around 50%, according to the report “Realizing the right to social security in domestic work: A global review of political trends, statistics and outreach strategies”.
The report warns that Comprehensive social protection coverage that includes all benefits is much lowerbut again, the proportion registered by Latin America and the Caribbean, of 9.8%, is above the global 6%, and is the highest in the developing world.
The overall report of ILO highlights the high level of non-compliance with legal provisions, that in the case of this region leaves 64.6% without any type of social protection coverageof all domestic workers. This is equivalent to 10 million of the almost 15 million people engaged in paid work at home.
“The region faces a very clear challenge, which is the effective application of laws on domestic workso that the progress made in recent years is reflected in people’s quality of life”, said the ILO regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Claudia Coenjaerts, commenting on the results of the report.
Coenjaerts warned that the strategies for increasing legal coverage and for the effective application of laws must go hand in hand with the fight against labor informality.
“We are talking about an informality rate of 72% in domestic work, which could even have risen to levels of around 80% as a result of the pandemic crisis.”
By comparison, the informality rate for all workers is around 56 percent, and for those with non-domestic employment it is 35 percent.
10 years of the agreement
The report published by the ILO was released on June 16, when a new anniversary of the approval in 2011 of Convention no. 189 on domestic work of the ILO.
At the global level, the leadership of Latin America and the Caribbean in the ratification of the Convention stands out. Of the 35 ratifications worldwide to date, 18 were submitted by countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
“The ratifications of the Convention by the countries of the region are very good news. But we cannot forget that eight out of ten domestic workers are in informal conditions”, said Coenjaerts.
improvements
Improvements in employment conditions in this sector are considered a key component of efforts to achieve greater gender equality at work in the region.
More than 90% are women, and this means that 13.8% of the economically active population of women in the region have a job in a household, According to a report published in 2021 by the ILO Regional Office “Paid domestic work in Latin America and the Caribbean ten years after Convention no. 189”.
This report highlighted that, given the low rate of effective compliance with laws and coverage of social protection in the region, it is necessary to broaden the scope of application of social security laws to include domestic workers.
“Their rights should be at least equal to those enjoyed by workers in general,” Coenjaerts explained. Governments must eliminate administrative barriers, facilitate registration with multiple employers, streamline registration and contribution procedures (including through digital technology), and facilitate access to benefits, among other measures recommended by the ILO
Greater participation of women in the economy
The increase in the demand for domestic work today is the result, among others, of the greater participation of women in the active population; deficiencies in the care services provided by the State; the greater feminization of international migration; demographic changes; and the growing needs for long-term care.
