News and articles on domestic work

  1. Domestic Workers' Day

    Legal protection is urgently needed to protect domestic workers

    17 June 2021

    Domestic workers are vulnerable to workplace violence and abuse. Indonesian domestic workers continue their fight to realize the domestic workers’ law.

  2. International Domestic Workers Day

    Domestic workers are essential care workers

    16 June 2021

    Marking the 10th anniversary of ILO Convention No. 189, academy award-winning director, Alfonso Cuarón calls for stronger protection of the rights of domestic workers. Convention 189 has been hailed as a breakthrough for the tens of millions of domestic workers around the world.

  3. International Domestic Workers Day

    Let’s step up to protect domestic workers’ rights

    16 June 2021

    The pandemic highlighted the critical role of care workers such as domestic workers. However, the majority of these workers are in the informal economy. They continue to suffer from poor working conditions, lack of income insurance, employment support and medical care. Ten years ago, the ILO adopted Convention No. 189 that granted their labour rights. Yet, there is a lot of ground to cover to recognize domestic workers as essential service providers.

  4. ILO InfoStory

    How to make decent work a reality for domestic workers

    16 June 2021

    Domestic workers provide essential services to millions of households around the world but many are not covered by legal or social protections. Explore the key findings of the new ILO report on Domestic workers in our latest interactive InfoStory.

  5. © Alex Proimos 2024

    Domestic work – Convention C189

    10 years on, domestic workers still fight for equality and decent work

    15 June 2021

    On the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the Domestic Workers’ Convention, the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed continued vulnerabilities of domestic workers in the labour market.

  6. International Domestic Workers' Day

    Making decent work a reality for domestic workers

    15 June 2021

    The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the vital role that domestic workers play in supporting the care needs of households, as well as the vulnerability they face earning a living behind closed doors. The adoption of Convention No. 189 in 2011 was adopted precisely to protect domestic workers from such poor working conditions. After a decade of efforts, how far have we come to make decent work a reality for domestic workers?
    Find out more: www.ilo.org/domesticworkers

  7. © A. Mirza / ILO 2024

    Media advisory

    ILO to launch global report on domestic workers

    11 June 2021