Domestic work: some evidence from research

1
Domestic work some evidence from research

• From unpaid work to paid work
• From paid work to formal employment
• Few facts and figures

2
Household services gendered work

• Child care
• Elder care
• Domestic work / cleaning
• Home maintenance
• Catering
• Often involves combination of care/cleaning/cookin
  g
• Big part of the 5 Cs

3
Growing (unmet) demand forhousehold services due
to

• Demographic developments
• Changing patterns of employment and income
• Social and cultural changes
• Policy incentives

4
European Foundation researchEmployment in
household services

• Eight Member States Austria Finland, France,
  Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, UK
• Review, locality studies, interviews with
  employers and workers
• Conceptual problems

5
Policy measures to stimulateemployment in
household services

• EU level employment, local development,
  entrepreneurship, ESF
• National level
• - Expansion and relocation of care services
• - Activation schemes for excluded groups
• - Tax credits for families or employers
• - Home care allowances for carers of dependents

6
Scale of employment growth

• Evident but not uniform
• No accurate statistics but undeclared work looks
  very significant
• Child care and food services show highest growth
• Many self-employed
• Third sector and public sector organisations more
  evident than private sector but much private
  purchase by individuals

7
Quality of employment variablebut with many
issues around

• Pay
• Social protection
• Working hours
• Career prospects
• Jobs for women, including older women
• Integration of migrant workers

8
Policy objectives

• Employment creation
• Good working conditions
• Equal opportunities to access qualified
  occupations
• Work-life balance

9
Policy dilemmas

• Professionalisation or large-scale job creation
  (for unqualified workers)
• Integration of unqualified workers
• Promoting female employment and desegregation
• Quality versus cost
• Coordination of national policy with local
  initiative
• Future sustainability of formal employment