ILO for inclusion of domestic workers in care policies, rights

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has issued a new policy brief to coincide with the International Women's Day, urging governments, workers' and employers' organisations to ensure domestic workers have access to labour rights and social protection.
The ILO estimates that by 2030, 1.9 billion children under the age of 15 and 200 million older persons at or above the age of healthy life expectancy, will need care.
This represents a combined increase of 200 million people in need of care, compared to 2015, said the ILO briefing issued on Thursday.
The briefing, titled 'From Global Care Crisis to Quality at Home: The Case for Including Domestic Workers in Care Policies and Ensuring Their Rights at Work', highlights the need to address the growing global care gap.
The UN also anticipates an increase in long-term care needs, with the proportion of the global population aged 60 or more expected to rise from 13.5 per cent in 2020 to 21.4 per cent by 2050 and 28.2 per cent by 2100.
The ILO estimates that women make up three-quarters of the world's 75.6 million domestic workers. Given this disproportionate representation, the rights of domestic workers are key to achieving gender equality.
With significant labour shortages, countries are seeking to improve female labour market participation, which often relies on the availability of high-quality care services, according to the ILO briefing.
This, among other factors, requires ensuring care jobs, including domestic work, offer sufficient quality to attract job seekers.
Domestic workers, whether hired directly by a household or through a public or private service provider, play an integral role in care provision.
"Even when only counting those employed directly by households, domestic workers account for at least 25 per cent of all paid care workers, including nurses, teachers, doctors, and personal care workers. The share of domestic workers among care workers however is much higher in countries with little investment in the care sector".
Yet, domestic workers often lack access to labour rights, social protection and care rights and services for themselves and their families, such as maternity leave, child benefits, childcare and long-term care.
These gaps in protection and access are particularly pronounced for domestic workers facing multiple forms of discrimination based on migration status and ethnic or indigenous origin.
To ensure decent work and access to care for domestic workers within national care policies, the new policy brief urges governments, workers' and employers' organisations to recognise domestic workers as care workers and include them as care providers in national care policies and social security systems.
It also calls for ensuring labour rights, social protection and access to care services that meet domestic workers' needs, including by ratifying and implementing Convention No. 189.
The ILO also urged governments and civil society to take measures to raise awareness of the crucial role domestic workers play in caring, directly and indirectly, for children, older persons, people with disabilities in need of support and those requiring long-term care.

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