Domestic Workers See Progress, but 66 Million Remain Without Formal Job Protection

The ILO brief, The state of domestic work in 2025: 15 years after Convention No. 189, estimates that 80 million people aged 15 and over work as domestic workers, compared with 75.6 million in 2019.

Fifteen years after the adoption of the Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189), new International Labour Organization estimates show that many countries have made progress in reducing informal domestic employment. More than four in five domestic workers worldwide still hold informal jobs, leaving millions without effective labour rights and social protection. The findings reveal the distance between the protections written into the convention and the conditions experienced by people who clean homes, prepare meals and provide care.

The ILO brief, The state of domestic work in 2025: 15 years after Convention No. 189, estimates that 80 million people aged 15 and over work as domestic workers, compared with 75.6 million in 2019. Domestic work accounts for 2.2 per cent of total employment and 4.4 per cent of employees, with its share remaining relatively stable. The increase in worker numbers largely reflects broader employment growth in particular regions, rather than domestic work expanding relative to other occupations.

Informality declined or remained stable in 91 of the 140 countries with comparable figures for 2019 and 2025, representing nearly 70 per cent of domestic workers worldwide. The other 49 countries, which account for around 30 per cent of the workforce, recorded an increase in the proportion working informally. Across the world, 66.5 million domestic workers remain informally employed, representing 83.1 per cent of the workforce and an increase of 5.1 million people since 2019.

Regional shifts help explain the global figures

The global picture is strongly influenced by the growing concentration of domestic workers in countries where informality remains persistently high. This means the worldwide figures do not point to a widespread deterioration in working conditions across the sector. Improvements within many countries can coexist with a larger global informal workforce because employment is growing in places where protection is weakest.

Asia and the Pacific accounts for 40.2 million domestic workers, placing about half of the global workforce in the region. Africa recorded the largest increase between 2019 and 2025, adding 4.2 million domestic workers, with 93.3 per cent of its domestic workforce employed informally. Informality is nearly universal in the Arab States, exceeds one in three domestic workers even in Europe and Central Asia, the region with the lowest rate, and accompanies a workforce in the Americas that has the highest proportion of women among broad regions.

Low wages and uneven hours deepen inequalities

Domestic workers receive average monthly wages equivalent to just 53.3 per cent of those earned by other employees, falling to 48.7 per cent for workers in informal employment. Their relative earnings have dropped from 56.4 per cent in 2019, showing that the wage gap has widened without necessarily meaning that their wages have fallen. Pay increased in many countries but grew more slowly than other employees' earnings, with the global comparison also affected by countries combining large domestic workforces and wider wage gaps.

Women make up 77.2 per cent of domestic workers worldwide and are disproportionately concentrated in cleaning and direct-care jobs, earning just 48 per cent of other employees' average monthly wages compared with 65.8 per cent for male domestic workers. Long hours affect a substantial part of the workforce, with 35.2 per cent working at least 49 hours a week, including 14.6 per cent working 60 hours or more. Domestic workers are also more likely than other employees to work very short hours, which can indicate insufficient paid work or employment spread across several households.

Turning legal rights into protection at work

Domestic workers support households by caring for children, older people and people with disabilities, providing essential services whose value is poorly reflected in their pay and protection. Patrick Belser, Chief of the ILO's Informal Work Branch, said national progress demonstrates that change is possible, with the continuing scale of informality and widening wage gaps demanding stronger action. He called for the rights in Convention No. 189 to become everyday realities through fair wages, social security, decent conditions and effective protection.

The ILO calls for implementation of Convention No. 189 and Recommendation No. 201 through targeted formalization, accessible registration and social protection, effective minimum wages and progress towards living wages. Its priorities include working-time protection, investment in decent care jobs, recognition of skills, stronger compliance and enforcement, social dialogue and collective bargaining. Demographic shifts, migration, digital transformation and growing care needs make these measures increasingly important for gender equality, sustainable care systems and social justice.