Most of the world’s domestic workers have no access to social security
by Agency Staff,
2016-03-14 14:41:00.0
GENEVA — About 90% of the world’s 67-million domestic workers have no access to social security protection, with migrants left particularly vulnerable, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) said on Monday.
Domestic work is largely "undervalued and unprotected", the United Nations (UN) labour agency said in a new report. "When domestic workers become old or injured, they are fired, without a pension or adequate income support," said Isabel Ortiz, head of the International Labour Organisation’s social protection department.
The report noted that women were by a wide margin the most affected — accounting for 80% of all domestic workers globally. In Italy, about 60% of domestic workers were excluded from social security systems, the report said. The same was true for 30% of domestic workers in France and Spain.
Not surprisingly, the largest gaps in protection for domestic workers were most severe in developing countries. For migrants seeking domestic work, including those flocking to Europe amid the current massive movement of people towards the continent, labour protection is especially rare.
Certain countries that had legally mandated social security systems for domestic workers specifically excluded migrants from those programmes, the organisation said. Ensuring social protection for domestic workers was challenging, the report said, in part because of the extremely high turnover and because many in the sector worked for multiple employers under informal arrangements.
"There is no single protection model that works best for domestic workers everywhere," International Labour Organisation senior economist Fabio Duran-Valverde said.
"But mandatory coverage (instead of voluntary coverage) is a crucial element for achieving adequate and effective coverage under any system."
AFP
Picture: THE SOWETAN
GENEVA — About 90% of the world’s 67-million domestic workers have no access to social security protection, with migrants left particularly vulnerable, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) said on Monday.
Domestic work is largely "undervalued and unprotected", the United Nations (UN) labour agency said in a new report. "When domestic workers become old or injured, they are fired, without a pension or adequate income support," said Isabel Ortiz, head of the International Labour Organisation’s social protection department.
The report noted that women were by a wide margin the most affected — accounting for 80% of all domestic workers globally. In Italy, about 60% of domestic workers were excluded from social security systems, the report said. The same was true for 30% of domestic workers in France and Spain.
Not surprisingly, the largest gaps in protection for domestic workers were most severe in developing countries. For migrants seeking domestic work, including those flocking to Europe amid the current massive movement of people towards the continent, labour protection is especially rare.
Certain countries that had legally mandated social security systems for domestic workers specifically excluded migrants from those programmes, the organisation said. Ensuring social protection for domestic workers was challenging, the report said, in part because of the extremely high turnover and because many in the sector worked for multiple employers under informal arrangements.
"There is no single protection model that works best for domestic workers everywhere," International Labour Organisation senior economist Fabio Duran-Valverde said.
"But mandatory coverage (instead of voluntary coverage) is a crucial element for achieving adequate and effective coverage under any system."
AFP
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