Women in Latin America and the Caribbean - Cepal

84
Lastly, the per capita incomes of households that employ live-in domestic staff are three and a
half times as high as those of households that do not (see figure II.13).
Figure II.13
LATIN AMERICA (14 COUNTRIES): HOUSEHOLDS WITH LIVE-IN DOMESTIC STAFF, BY
HOUSEHOLD PER CAPITA INCOME
(Percentages)
14
12
10.8
11.3
10
8
7.4
6
4
3.1
3.5
2
2.0
0
Total Urban Rural
Without domestic staff
With domestic staff
Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), on the basis of special tabulations of household
surveys from the countries concerned.
G. THE DEMAND FOR CARE
In households, the demand for care has four main sources: (i) children, (ii) the sick, (iii) the elderly and
(iv) those who work long hours in paid occupations (Durán, 2006), to which we should add the demand
generated by the disabled. Some of these sources may change as the demographic structure alters.
To obtain a more accurate idea of the burden of care in the region’s countries and have a tool
available for carrying out comparative studies of the needs and resources of households at a given point in
time, the “Madrid scale” has been constructed along the lines of the “Oxford scale” commonly used to
analyse the monetary needs of households. 42 The “Madrid scale” similarly allocates one point or unit of
42
Briefly, the “Oxford scale” assigns a value of one point to the first adult member of the household and lower
scores to its other adult members and children.