The 2022 SweepSouth Report on Pay and Working Conditions for Domestic Work added an additional African country to the analysis with collective data from Kenya and South Africa.
This new report surveyed domestic workers aged 26-41, mostly female, with the majority in South Africa.
Low earnings, financial stress and overall working conditions were flagged by the report.
Amid rapidly rising living costs, a quarter of SA domestic workers participating in the survey reported having lost their jobs in the last year, with the biggest causes being that their employers either emigrated, 'semigrated' to another town during Covid-19, or couldn't afford to pay them anymore.
Both Kenya and South Africa show an average income for domestic workers that falls below the living wage. Over 40% of respondents said they also received income from other sources.
Rising costs – particularly transport costs – would firstly make it much more difficult for domestic workers to secure their future financially, and secondly make it harder for them to get to work at all.
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