Survey of Employers of Domestic Workers in India: Delhi and Mumbai

Aims & Objectives: This project, a unique study, focused on the demand for women domestic workers (against the commonly examined aspect of supply) thereby, capturing the employers’ perspectives in two cities—Delhi and Mumbai. The Delhi survey was conducted by IHD and the Mumbai survey by the Centre for Development, Research and Action (CDRA) Mumbai.

The project examined:

• How employers recruited domestic workers and what their opportunities were for change.This investigated the skills, capacities and qualities of the domestic workers that determined the employers’ choice of domestic workers;
• The drivers of value and devaluation examining the perceptions of employers with regard to domestic work in terms of skills required and the opportunity costs;
• This entailed an understanding of what problems employers faced with regard to the domestic work sector and the changes they preferred in the current situation;
• If the employers were aware that domestic work was a legitimate labour market activity conducted in an employment relationship;
• The study followed a mixed‐methods approach with quantitative survey and qualitative interviews of employers across different socio‐economic strata. A listing survey was undertaken as per the population‐proportionate sampling of wards based on the 2011 Census. A total of 6010 households (4041 in Delhi and 1969 from Mumbai) were surveyed. The final report was submitted to ILO after which a joint consultation was proposed.

Findings: The main findings of the report:

• Domestic service is a heterogeneous sector segmented in terms of skills and task specialisation;
• There exists a hierarchy among domestic workers depending on the tasks they are hired for, which leads to wage differences;
• Part‐time domestic workers form the bulk of the labour market and their specific characteristics prevail over other factors, such as caste, in employers’ decisions to recruit;
• Working conditions vary between part‐timers and full‐time live‐in help;
• The recruitment channels remain largely informal and personalised.