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Domestic work accounts for one of the largest employment sectors in South Africa.

It’s also one of the most unequal and difficult to regulate.

This is largely due to the personal nature of the work – it happens in what is considered ‘the private space’ of the employer, who determines the wages of their employee.

Digital-booking cleaning service SweepSouth recently released its annual report showing how much domestic workers are earning in South Africa right now.

The report took data from almost 5 000 responses to their survey, 97% of which came from women, who make up the largest percentage of workers in the industry in South Africa more broadly.

The data showed not only a significant and startling lack of earnings due to the pandemic but a trend that extends to before the pandemic took hold. Coupled with a rise in the cost of living, these numbers paint an ugly picture of how domestic workers are compensated in the workplace.

As illustrated by the graph below, monthly basic expenses increased by 34% to R4 225 per month during the lockdown:

The most notable increases were food and school fees, likely exacerbated by a combination of inflation, and the fact that the number of domestic workers who are responsible for the financial upkeep of their families has increased by 13% compared to the same time last year:

Before the pandemic, 63% of workers were earning more than R2 500 a month.

During and after the lockdown, 74% of respondents reported earning less than R2 500, with 80% of respondents working less than eight hours a day (keep in mind that domestic workers are often paid by the hour):

To sum up the above data, here’s the average monthly salary currently earned by domestic workers who participated in the survey:

While the pandemic affected a number of South Africans financially, perhaps the most heartbreaking aspect of the survey is the number of domestic workers who received no support from their employers during the lockdown.

“I work two days a week for my employer. She pays me R200 a day. When the lockdown came, she cut the number of days to one. She also reduced my salary to R150. But the amount of work was still the same. I had to do two days’ work in just one day. Nothing had changed in her work, she just used the lockdown as an excuse to pay me less. I suffered a lot because of this. I have two children to take care of.”

The graph below sums things up:

Domestic workers were allowed to return to work from June 1, with strict safety measures in place.

If the pandemic has taught us anything about this massive employment sector, it’s that it needs to be regulated, unionised, and reworked to protect the rights of some of the most vulnerable people in South Africa.

Read the full report here.

[source:sweepsouth]