Inclusive social development: The next generation of policies for overcoming poverty and reducing inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean

Inclusive social development: the next generation of policies for overcoming poverty...
Paid domestic service accounts for a high proportion of women’s
employment in Latin America and the Caribbean. It is work that
is little valued, with low wages, precarious working conditions,
greater informality, low levels of social protection, a high
incidence of child labour and, in most of the countries, fewer
rights than wage earners in such basic areas as minimum wages,
maternity leave, rest days and paid leave (including holidays)
(ILO, 2011; ECLAC, 2008; Loyo and Velásquez, 2009; Valenzuela
and Moras, 2009; Blofield, 2012). This situation reveals explicit
patterns of discrimination, based on the fact that this kind of
work is associated with the underappreciated care and social
reproduction functions of households and families (ECLAC, 2008).
In 2013, domestic work accounted for 11.5% of total female
employment in Latin America and was situated on one of the
lowest levels of the earnings scale in those countries. That same
year, the average income of women domestic workers was
equal to 50% of the average incomes of employed women as a
whole; nevertheless, in spite of the pronounced differential, that
figure has evolved positively since 1990, when it stood at 41%
(ECLAC, 2014a, statistical appendix, figures for urban areas).
In the region, domestic work is an essentially female
occupation: in 2010, over 95% of paid domestic workers were
women (ECLAC, 2013a). The proportion of men is limited or
Box I.3
Paid domestic work
almost non-existent, and male domestic workers chiefly serve
as butlers, residential security guards, gardeners and drivers,
and they receive a higher income on average for these jobs
than female workers, who perform mostly domestic and care
work in private households.
The high proportion of women in this kind of work is an
expression of the horizontal segmentation of jobs; these are
generally women who wish to perform paid work and whose
only experience they can carry over to the labour market is the
unpaid work they do in their own homes. That constrains their
possibilities of entry into the labour market on a good footing,
in contrast with other workers with more work experience,
training, contact networks and other advantages.
A proxy for the level of discrimination by race or ethnicity
in this type of employment can be seen in the following figure,
which contrasts non-indigenous, non-Afro-descendent women
with those of indigenous and African descent. Large intragender
disparities are also evident between Afro-descendent and
non-indigenous, non-Afro-descendent women can be seen,
with an overrepresentation of the former group in work of this
kind. Similarly, albeit somewhat less markedly, in four of the
eight countries the indigenous population is also engaged in
work of this kind.
Latin America (8 countries): proportion of indigenous, Afro-descendent and non-indigenous,
non-Afro-descendent women employed in domestic work, 2011
(Percentages)
35
30
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
14
Non-indigenous,
non-Afro-descendent
22
Indigenous
12
Non-indigenous,
non-Afro-descendent
17
Indigenous
12
Non-indigenous,
non-Afro-descendent
15 15 14
Indigenous
Non-indigenous,
non-Afro-descendent
Indigenous
9
Non-indigenous,
non-Afro-descendent
11
Indigenous
Uruguay Chile Brazil Paraguay Mexico
6
Non-indigenous,
non-Afro-descendent
5
Indigenous
6
Non-indigenous,
non-Afro-descendent
4
Indigenous
6
2
6
12 12
20
14
Chapter I
Non-indigenous,
non-Afro-descendent
Indigenous
Non-indigenous,
non-Afro-descendent
Bolivia
(Plur. State of) Peru Ecuador Ecuador Brazil Uruguay
Afro-descendants
Non-indigenous,
non-Afro-descendent
Afro-descendants
Non-indigenous,
non-Afro-descendent
Afro-descendants
Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), on the basis of special tabulations of data from household surveys conducted in the countries.
Source: Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Social Panorama of Latin America 2007 (LC/G.2351-P), Santiago, 2008; M.G. Loyo
and M. Velásquez, “Aspectos jurídicos y económicos del trabajo doméstico remunerado en América Latina”, Trabajo doméstico: un largo camino hacia
el trabajo decente, M.E. Valenzuela y C. Mora (eds.), Santiago, International Labour Organization (ILO), 2009; M.E. Valenzuela and C. Mora (eds.),
Trabajo doméstico: un largo camino hacia el trabajo decente, M.E. Valenzuela y C. Mora (eds.), Santiago, ILO, 2009; M. Blofield, Care, Work and Class:
Domestic Workers’ Struggle for Equal Rights in Latin America, Pennsylvania State University Press, 2012; International Labour Organization (ILO),
Notas OIT. El trabajo doméstico remunerado en América Latina y el Caribe, Santiago, 2011.
5. Young people and the labour market
The demographic transition currently underway in Latin America and the Caribbean still offers an opportunity for
development in the form of a “demographic dividend”. Thanks to falling fertility rates, there is a low percentage
of children and older persons (but not yet very elderly) compared to the working-age population. This situation is
highly favourable for development, since the viability of savings increases (for example, with contributions to social
security), productivity and investment can increase and levels of well-being among the population can rise (ECLAC/
UNFPA/OIJ, 2012; Cecchini and Uthoff, 2008), provided that policies, markets and institutions exist to support and
encourage that growth.
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