Wages of domestic workers increased, but at slower rate: ILO report

Fifteen years after the adoption of the ILO Domestic Workers Convention, new estimates from the International Labour Organization (ILO), released in Geneva on Tuesday (October 27, 2026), showed progress in reducing informality among domestic workers in many countries. A statistical brief from the ILO said more than four in five domestic workers worldwide still work informally, often without effective labour and social protection. It added that in India, domestic workers’ nominal wages increased, but the wages for other employees rose considerably faster.

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The brief noted that the gap widened in many countries as other employees’ wages grew faster than domestic workers’ wages. “This pattern is visible in several influential countries in the Americas and Asia and the Pacific. India is an important example: domestic workers’ nominal wages increased, but the wages for other employees rose considerably faster,” it added.

Domestic workers globally earn on average, 61.2% of the monthly wage of other employees. “The ratio is considerably higher for men, at 73.1%, than for women, at 55.3%. Among domestic workers in informal employment, it falls to 58.1%,” it said. Citing data for both 2019 and 2025, the report noted a widening relative wage gap. “Country-level evidence suggests that domestic workers’ wages often increased, but generally less rapidly than those of other employees, notably in India,” it said.

According to the ILO Statistical Brief, an estimated 80 million people aged 15 and over are employed as domestic workers worldwide, up from 75.6 million in 2019. “Domestic work nevertheless remains relatively stable as a share of employment, accounting for 2.2% of total employment and 4.4% of employees, indicating that the global increase largely reflects broader employment growth in specific regions rather than a specific expansion of domestic work relative to other occupations,” the report said.

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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% of domestic workers worldwide. The remaining 49 countries, accounting for around 30% of domestic workers, experienced an increase in the proportion of informality,” the ILO said, adding that despite this progress, an estimated 66.5 million domestic workers, or 83.1% of the global domestic workforce, remain in informal employment without effective labour and social protection. “The global figures largely reflect the growing concentration of domestic workers in countries where informality remains persistently high, rather than a widespread deterioration in working conditions in the sector,” it added.

Published - October 27, 2026 10:26 pm IST