BASIC FACTS ON FILIPINO DOMESTIC WORKERS

BASIC FACTS ON FILIPINO DOMESTIC WORKERS

 

Definition: The Labor Code of the Philippines defines “domestic or household service” as “service in the employer’s home which is usually necessary or desirable for the maintenance and enjoyment thereof and includes ministering to the personal comfort and convenience of the members of the employer’s household, including services of family drivers.” Maids, cooks, yayas (nannies) drivers and all-around helpers are the primary categories of domestic helpers.

 

Duties: Most domestic helpers perform more than one role within a household, with duties that may include cleaning, laundry, ironing, grocery shopping, cooking, taking care of the children, and driving the members of the household.

 

Terms of Employment: The current monthly minimum wage for domestic helpers in the Philippines is 800 pesos in Metro Manila and highly urbanized cities, 650 pesos in other chartered cities and first class municipalities and 500 pesos for those in other municipalities. Under the Labor Code, live-in domestic helpers are also entitled to lodging, food, and medical assistance. Helpers earning over 1,000 pesos per month must be enrolled in the social security system.

 

In the Philippines, domestic workers receive an average daily pay of P89. Private households in the Zamboanga Peninsula pay the highest with P122.80 followed by the National Capital Region (NCR) with P111.84.

 

Statistics: Estimates of the number of domestic workers in the Philippines range from roughly 600,000 to 2.5 million. Based on the 2008 Labor Force Survey, there are almost 1.6 million private households with employed persons. According to the Philippine Child Labor Survey, there are nearly 600,000 child laborers aged 5 to 14 years old in the service industry.

 

In 2008, nearly 54,000 Filipinos were deployed overseas as domestic workers (new hires). It was reported that one out of three OFWS during the period of April to September 2007 were laborers and unskilled workers which include domestic helpers, cleaners and manufacturing laborers.

 

Overseas domestic workers are among the top remitters in the past years. Female laborers and unskilled workers sent home P13 billion in 2007, double the numbers logged in 2001 with nearly P6.5 billion.

 

Gender: Majority of local and overseas workers are female. Drivers are the only group of domestic workers that are dominantly male.

 

Place of Employment: More than one third or 35 percent of local domestic helpers are found in the National Capital Region. Other regions with a big

number of domestic helpers include the CALABARZON (12.1percent), Central Visayas (9.8 percent) and Western Visayas (7.3 percent).

 

In 2007, the top five countries of destination of newly hired domestic workers are Hong Kong, Italy, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

 

Place of Origin: In the Philippines, domestic workers are likely to be from the Visayas regions, Bicol, Southern Tagalog and Northern Mindanao. Filipino domestic workers deployed overseas are usually from the National Capital region, Southern Tagalog, Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Soccsksargen and Western Visayas.

 

Recruitment: Domestic helpers are recruited through formal and informal channels, with local domestic helpers recruited primarily through informal methods.

 

Violations and abuses: Common problems faced by local and overseas domestic workers include long working hours with no rest periods, non-payment of wages, verbal, physical and sexual abuse and a lack of adequate accommodation. Child and adult domestic workers lack access to education and opportunities to further and complete their studies. Domestic workers are also vulnerable to illegal recruitment, force labor including debt bondage and human trafficking.

 

Sources:

 

Nicol J. Sayres (2004) International Labour Organization

2007 Survey on Overseas Filipinos, National Statistics Office

2007 Overseas Employment Statistics, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration

Profile of Domestic Workers (2007), Bureau of Labor and Employment Statistics

June 2009 Bangko Sentral Economic Newsletter

Mayen Jaymalin (2007), “Lowly paid workers sending higher remittances”

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