ILO Report: Over Four-Fifths of the World's 66.5 Million Domestic Workers Lack Formal Labor Protection
A new report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) finds that of the world's roughly 66.5 million domestic workers, more than four in five still had no formal labor protection in 2025 and worked informally, leaving them outside the formal coverage of labor law and social security.
Domestic workers include live-in and live-out nannies, cleaners and caregivers for the elderly and the sick. Women make up the large majority, and many are migrant workers. Because their workplace is a private home, the group has long sat at the margins of labor inspection; in many countries and regions, minimum wages, limits on working hours, paid leave and pension and health coverage do not automatically apply to domestic workers, who are left exposed when they lose a job, fall ill or grow old.
The ILO has long urged governments to bring domestic work into formal labor protection systems and to ratify the Domestic Workers Convention (No. 189), adopted in 2011, which requires that domestic workers enjoy labor rights and social protection equal to those of other workers. Despite legislative reforms in some countries, progress on coverage remains slow, the report shows.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：一名家政工人在擦拭住宅窗户（资料图，摄于伊斯坦布尔）。照片：l0da_ralta，CC BY 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。/ Photo: A domestic worker cleaning a home window in Istanbul (file photo). Photo by l0da_ralta, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
