South African domestic workers in trouble, here’s why

Domestic worker jobs are on the decline in South Africa. According to 2022’s third Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) there were 32 000 fewer housekeepers employed compared to last quarter.

While there is some light at the end of the long, dark unemployment crisis, there is less hope for domestic workers.

The decline of domestic work jobs

Domestic worker jobs decreased by 3.7% from 858 000 housekeepers in Q2.

There are over 1 million domestic workers employed in the country, but in 2020 around 250 000 workers lost their jobs due to the pandemic and lockdowns in the first quarter of that year.

Additionally, there wasn’t an immediate bounce back in the subsequent quarters. In line with other sector trends, domestic workers struggled to reach pre-pandemic employment levels after the fact.

ALSO READ: Domestic workers could be paid more

Middle-class households under strain

A BusinessTesch report attributes the declining number of domestic workers’ jobs to the fact that middle-class households are buckling under the pressure of the increasing cost of living, inflation and fuel hikes.

Unfortunately, domestic help, seen as a luxury, is often the first expense to be cut during hard financial times.

According to South Africa’s first on-demand cleaning app SweepSouth, emigration and semigration is also having a devastating impact on the declining demand for help around the house.

A quarter of the respondents in a SweepSouth survey reported losing their positions last year.

Of these workers, more than a quarter (28%) lost their jobs because their employer had moved.

ALSO READ: Domestic workers still struggle to afford daily life – survey

At least 33% of the employers moved to a different town or city in South Africa, while nearly half (48%) moved to another country.

Formalising the domestic work sector

The publication said another factor impacting domestic worker jobs is the government’s attempt to formalise the sector and provide better employee protections.

The Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Amendment Bill is one of several new laws for South Africa awaiting the presidential signature.

The bill aims to recognise housekeepers as employees eligible for traditional formal workplace benefits.

ALSO READ:  Here’s what you should pay your domestic worker this year

Employers of domestic workers are also required to contribute to the Unemployment Insurance Fund.

While these laws aim to improve working conditions and afford housekeepers benefits they could have never previously enjoyed, this poses a new administrative burden on employers.

There’s also a growing number of questions about how the new laws will be implemented.

This includes queries about who constitutes the “main employer” when a domestic worker works for multiple households and is thus responsible for UIF payments.

NOW READ: What employers need to know about domestic workers’ rights