Domestic workers are one of the most critical workforces in the US economy but are routine victims of substandard work conditions, low wages and even physical and mental abuse at the hands of their employers. The recent study, "Home Economics: The Invisible and Unregulated World of Domestic Work," by the National Domestic Workers Alliance, exposes the sometimes harsh reality of the domestic workforce through the interviews of 2,086 worker in 14 major metropolitan areas.
The Key Findings of the study are:
- Domestic workers earn substandard pay, and enjoy little economic mobility or financial security.
- Formal employment contracts are rare in the domestic work industry, and where work agreements do exist, employers frequently violate them.
- Employers think of their homes as safe, yet domestic work can be hazardous.
- Domestic workers who encounter problems frequently feel too vulnerable to stand up for themselves, especially live-in workers and undocumented immigrants.
You can read the rest of the study at:
http://www.domesticworkers.org/homeeconomics/ as well as
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