Domestic workers see progress but informality remains widespread, ILO reports

Fifteen years after the adoption of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189), new estimates from the ILO show progress in reducing informality among domestic workers in many countries, according to a press release issued on 27 October 2026 from Geneva. More than four in five domestic workers worldwide still work informally, often without effective labour and social protection. The ILO Statistical Brief, The state of domestic work in 2025: 15 years after Convention No. 189, estimates that 80.0 million people aged 15 and over are employed as domestic workers worldwide, up from 75.6 million in 2019. Domestic work remains relatively stable as a share of employment, accounting for 2.2 per cent of total employment and 4.4 per cent of employees. The global increase largely reflects broader employment growth in specific regions rather than a specific expansion of domestic work relative to other occupations.

Informality in domestic work declined or remained stable in 91 of the 140 countries with comparable data for 2019 and 2025. These countries account for nearly 70 per cent of domestic workers worldwide. The remaining 49 countries, representing around 30 per cent of domestic workers, experienced an increase in the proportion of informality. Despite this progress, an estimated 66.5 million domestic workers, or 83.1 per cent of the global domestic workforce, remain in informal employment. That figure is 5.1 million more than in 2019.

Regional disparities and persistent inequalities

Asia and the Pacific is home to 40.2 million domestic workers, about half of the global total. Africa recorded the largest increase between 2019 and 2025, with an additional 4.2 million domestic workers, and informality affects 93.3 per cent of domestic workers in Africa. Informality is nearly universal in the Arab States, while Europe and Central Asia has the lowest regional informality rate, yet more than one in three domestic workers remain informal. The Americas remain the most highly feminized broad region. Domestic workers earn, on average, only 53.3 per cent of the average monthly wage of other employees, with informal domestic workers earning just 48.7 per cent.

Widening wage gaps and gender imbalance

The relative wage gap has widened since 2019, when domestic workers earned 56.4 per cent of the average monthly wage of other employees. Long working hours remain widespread, with 35.2 per cent of domestic workers putting in at least 49 hours per week, including 14.6 per cent who work 60 hours or more. Women account for 77.2 per cent of domestic workers worldwide and are disproportionately concentrated in cleaning and direct-care occupations. They earn, on average, just 48 per cent of the monthly wages of other employees, compared with 65.8 per cent for men domestic workers. “Progress in many countries shows that change is possible. But with more than 66 million domestic workers still in informal employment and their wages falling further behind those of other employees, much more needs to be done,” said Patrick Belser, Chief of the Informal Work Branch at the ILO.

Turning legal recognition into effective protection

The ILO calls for stronger efforts to implement Convention No. 189 and Recommendation No. 201. Measures include targeted formalization strategies, accessible registration and social protection, effective minimum wages, and progress towards living wages. The organization also highlights working-time protection, investment in decent care jobs, skills recognition, stronger compliance and enforcement, and social dialogue and collective bargaining. As demographic shifts, migration, digital transformation and other changes reshape the world of work and intensify care needs, ensuring decent work for domestic workers will be increasingly important. The ILO affirms this agenda is central to achieving gender equality, building sustainable care systems and advancing social justice.