Domestic worker

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domestic worker

A domestic worker is someone who works within the employer's household. Domestic workers perform a variety of household services for an individual or a family, from providing care for children and elderly dependents to cleaning and household maintenance, known as housekeeping. Responsibilities may also include cooking, doing laundry and ironing, food shopping and other household errands. Some domestic workers live within the household where they work.

The conditions faced by domestic workers vary widely throughout history and the contemporary world. In the United States, domestic workers are excluded from many of the legal protections afforded to other classes of worker, including the provisions of the National Labor Relations Act.^[1] Most domestic workers are women, and many are immigrants to the countries where they work. In the course of twentieth-century movements for labor rights, women's rights and immigrant rights, the conditions faced by domestic workers and the problems specific to their class of employment have come to the fore.

[edit] History

A Han Dynasty (202 BC - 220 AD) Chinese ceramic figurine of a lady servant making a respectful gesture with both hands in front, covered in long silk sleeves

Domestic service, or the employment of people for wages in their employer's residence, was sometimes simply called "service". It evolved into a hierarchical system in various countries at various times.

Prior to the labour reforms of the 20th century, servants, and workers in general, had no protection in law. The only real advantage that service provided was the provision of meals and accommodation, and sometimes clothes, in addition to the modest wage. Also, service was an apprentice system; there was room for advancement through the ranks. However, it was also perilous, particularly for females, as there was no protection from unscrupulous employers or other members of the family, including sexual exploitation.

In Britain this system peaked towards the close of the Victorian era, perhaps reaching its most complicated and rigidly structured state during the Edwardian period, which reflected the limited social mobility of the time. The equivalent in the United States was the Gilded Age.

[edit] Current situation around the world

Throughout the world, most domestic workers are from the same country in which they work.^{[citation needed]} They may live at home, though they are usually "live-in" domestics, meaning they receive room and board as part of their salaries. Because of the large gap between urban and rural incomes, and the lack of employment opportunities in the countryside, even an ordinary middle class urban family can afford to employ a full-time live-in servant. The majority of domestic workers in China, Mexico, India, and other populous developing countries, are people from the rural areas who are employed by urban families.

In Brazil, domestic workers must be hired under a registered contract and have most of the rights of any other workers, which includes a minimum wage, remunerated vacations and a remunerated weekly day off. It is not uncommon, however, to hire servants without registering them. Since servants come almost always from the lower, uneducated classes, they are sometimes ignorant of their rights, especially in the rural zone. Nevertheless, domestics employed without a proper contract sometimes sue their employers to get compensation from abuses.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Domestic work and international migration

Many countries import domestic workers from abroad, usually poorer countries, through recruitment agencies and brokers because their own nationals are no longer obliged or inclined to do domestic work. This includes most Middle Eastern countries, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Taiwan. For most of these countries, the number of domestic workers run into the hundreds of thousands. There are at least one million domestic workers in Saudi Arabia.

Major sources of domestic workers include the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Ethiopia. Taiwan also imports domestic workers from Vietnam and Mongolia. Organizations such as Kalayaan support the growing number of these migrant domestic workers.

[edit] Uniform

Employers may require their domestic workers to wear a uniform or other "domestic workers' clothes" when in their employers' home. The uniform is usually simple, and was even back in the 19th century and 20th century. Female servants would wear long, plain, dark-coloured dresses or a black skirt with a white belt and a white blouse or shirt, and black high-heeled shoes, and male servants and butlers would wear something from a simple suit, down to a white shirt, often with tie, and knickers. In traditional portrayals, the attire of male servants especially is typically more formal and more conservative, than that of those whom they serve. For example, in films of the early 20th century, a butler may appear in a tailcoat, while male family members and guests will appear in ordinary suits. In later portrayals, the employer and guests may wear casual slacks or even jeans, while the servant wears a jacket and tie.

[edit] Accommodation

Many domestic workers are live-in domestics. Though they often have their own quarters, their accommodations are not usually as comfortable as those reserved for the family members. In some cases, they sleep in the kitchen or small rooms, such as a box room, sometimes located in the basement or attic.

[edit] Notable domestic workers

A poster of a pre-1943 American maid in uniform.

[edit] Real People

• Sarah Balabagan
• Fonzworth Bentley
• Paul Burrell, butler to Diana, Princess of Wales
• Flor Contemplacion
• Paul Hogan
• Lillian Rogers Parks
• Rose Porteous
• Margaret Rogers
• Papin sisters

[edit] Fictional Characters

• Crichton
• Jeeves (more specifically, a valet)
• Mr. Belvedere from the sitcom Mr. Belvedere
• Mr. French from the sitcom Family Affair.
• Stevens in the 1989 novel The Remains of the Day
• Geoffrey from the sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
• Berta, the Harpers' housekeeper on Two and a Half Men
• Alfred Pennyworth from Batman
• Mary Poppins

[edit] Different domestic worker jobs

• Au pair (although arguably this should not be seen as a job)^{[citation needed]}
• Butler, a senior employee, almost invariably a man, whose duties traditionally included overseeing the wine cellar, the silver, and some management of the other servants.
• Chauffeur (personal driver)
• Cook
• Dog walker
• Footman
• Gardener
• Governess
• Groundskeeper
• Handyman (household repairs)
• Horse trainer
• Housekeeper, a senior employee, usually female.
• Laundress
• Maid
• Masseur/Masseuse
• Nanny (once known as a nurse)
• Nursemaid
• Personal shopper
• Personal trainer (fitness, swimming, sports)
• Pool person
• Scullery maid
• Secretary (social or corresponding)
• Security guard
• Stable boy
• Valet or gentleman's gentleman
• Wet nurse
• Yard crew

[edit] See also

• Household chore
• Foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong
• Similar work performed not within the home but, for example, on cruise lines
• Isabella Beeton ("Mrs Beeton") and The Book of Household Management
• The Diary of a Chambermaid, novel by Octave Mirbeau

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Servants

• The Man Booker prize winning novel The Remains of the Day

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• List of digitized books on domestic workers in German, English, and other languages at de.wikisource
• Amnesty International paper on the abuse of domestic workers in the Middle East
• A Global Justice Center paper about domestic workers worldwide
• An international campaign for domestic workers' labour rights