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Domestic workers: four in five lack formal job protection worldwide, ILO report finds

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An estimated 66.5 million domestic workers, more than four out of five worldwide, were informally employed in 2025, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said in a new report presented in Geneva on Tuesday, 27 October 2026, according to UN News.

domestic workers: A domestic worker cleans a house in Harare, Zimbabwe
A domestic worker cleans a house in Harare, Zimbabwe Photo: © ILO/KB Mpofu via UN News (editorial use with credit).

How many domestic workers lack protection

The ILO estimates that 80 million domestic workers were employed worldwide in 2025, up from 75.6 million in 2019. Their share of total employment stayed at about 2.2 per cent, which the agency said shows the rise reflects overall job growth rather than an expansion of the sector. About half of all domestic workers are in Asia and the Pacific. Africa saw the biggest increase since 2019, with 4.2 million more, and 93.3 per cent of domestic workers there are informally employed. Informality is “nearly universal” in the Arab States, the ILO said. Even in Europe and Central Asia, which have the lowest rate, more than one in three are paid informally. Informal workers are more than twice as likely as other employees to lack labour and social protection.

Key Facts

  • Informally employed domestic workers (2025): 66.5 million
  • Total domestic workers: 80 million (75.6 million in 2019)
  • Women: 77.2% of the workforce
  • Pay: 53.3% of other employees’ monthly wages
  • Convention No. 189 ratified by 40 countries

“Domestic work is work, and domestic workers deserve the same rights and the same protections as other workers.”

— Sahra Razavi, ILO

Pay gap and long hours

Women made up 77.2 per cent of domestic workers, concentrated in cleaning and care jobs. On average, domestic workers earned 53.3 per cent of the monthly wages of other employees, falling to 48.7 per cent for those in informal jobs, and the gap has been widening since 2019. More than one-third worked at least 49 hours a week and nearly 15 per cent worked 60 hours or more, the report found. At the same time, many worked short hours for little pay, which can point to underemployment and moving between several households to earn a living. Europe and Central Asia have the lowest regional informality rate.

ILO Convention No. 189 and the call for ratification

The report noted some progress: among countries with comparable data, more than half have reduced informality among domestic workers since 2019, and 40 countries have ratified ILO Convention No. 189, which sets standards for decent work in the sector. ILO director Sahra Razavi told journalists that ratification remains particularly low in Asia and the Arab States and needs to rise. She said domestic workers clean homes, cook, look after children and care for older people and those with disabilities, yet often remain invisible and undervalued. UN News said the report also found that among countries with comparable data, informality has fallen in more than half since 2019. Because informal domestic workers are often paid in cash, they also contribute nothing in tax on wages, the ILO noted. Ms Razavi said the work of domestic workers makes “millions of lives possible”, and that their contribution is often taken for granted.

Why It Matters: With about half of the world's domestic workers in Asia and the Pacific, the ILO findings bear directly on millions of households and workers in South Asia.

Also on TrendDesh: Child labour in Rajasthan: about 5,000 children freed in four years, Chief Secretary orders survey · Women and girls in conflict: share of civilian war deaths doubles since 2021, UN report says

Source: UN News, 27 Oct 2026 · International Labour Organization · ILO Convention No. 189

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