Who is Domestic Worker?

Adomestic workerordomestic helper is a person who works within the employer'shousehold. Domestic helpers perform a variety of household services for an individual or a family, from providingcare for childrenand elderly dependents tohousekeeping, including cleaning and household maintenance. Other responsibilities may includecooking,laundryandironing, shopping for food and undertaking other household errands. Such work has always needed to be done but before theIndustrial Revolutionand the advent of labour saving devices, it was physically much harder.

Some domestic helpers live within their employer's household. In some cases, the contribution and skill of servants whose work encompassed complex management tasks in large households have been highly valued. However, for the most part, domestic work, while necessary, is demanding and undervalued. Although legislation protecting domestic workers is in place in many countries, it is often not extensively enforced. In many jurisdictions, domestic work is poorly regulated and domestic workers are subject to serious abuses.