Is domestic work care work?
Many countries face a shortage of care workers. In an effort to rectify this some are reassessing the conditions, pay and status of these workers. Yet, too often, improvements exclude those classified as domestic workers, even though they often undertake care work, either exclusively or as part of a broader range of household tasks.June 16th is International Domestic Workers Day, marking the passing, in 2011, of ILO Convention 189 on Decent Work for Domestic Workers, the first international labour standard that recognized domestic work as equivalent to all other kinds of work. 12 years after the Convention was agreed, why is the role of domestic workers still underappreciated, and how can their contribution to the care economy can be properly recognized?
