Women Dominate Domestic Work in the World

The International Labour Organization (ILO) reported that the estimated number of domestic workers aged 15 and over globally in 2019 was 75.6 million.

Women dominate this domestic work, with 57.7 million or about 76.2% of the total global domestic workers. Meanwhile, for men, the figure was 23.8%.

"Globally, this work accounts for about 4.5% of all working women, and even reaches 8.8% if we only count women who are employees [or receive a wage]," the ILO wrote in the report Making decent work a reality for domestic workers.

The distribution in several regions of the world is also dominated by women. However, only the Arab region is dominated by men.

Here is the estimated distribution of domestic workers worldwide by gender and region in 2019 according to the ILO:

Americas

• Women: 89%
• Men: 11%

Europe and Central Asia

• Women: 84.6%
• Men: 15.4%

Asia and the Pacific

• Women: 78.4%
• Men: 21.6%

Africa

• Women: 68.4%
• Men: 31.6%

Arab region

• Women: 36.6%
• Men: 63.4%

Global

• Women: 76.2%
• Men: 23.8%.

When aggregated, Asia and the Pacific are the regions with the largest number of domestic workers, accounting for about half of the world total.

"The Americas follow with about 23%, while Europe and Central Asia are the regions with the smallest share of domestic workers," the ILO wrote.

Based on its contribution to employment, the ILO said domestic work accounts for about 2.3% of total employment worldwide. However, the figure could be even higher, reaching up to 4.5% of the group of workers who receive wages.

However, the ILO notes that these figures may still be lower than the actual situation, especially in low-income countries, due to data limitations and potential underreporting in employment surveys.