Sec. 2. Findings
1,440 words·~7 min read·
/bill/119/s/3396/is/section-2A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Congress finds the following: There are an estimated 2,200,000 domestic employees across the United States working in private homes to provide direct care, child care, and house-cleaning services. Domestic work is a job-enabling job that makes all other work possible. It is labor that cannot be outsourced to individuals abroad, nor is it close to being automated. Without the millions of domestic employees caring for children, seniors, and people with disabilities, and cleaning homes, much of the economy would come to a standstill.
During the COVID–19 pandemic, domestic work and other low-wage service jobs, disproportionately held by women, women of color, and immigrants, were deemed essential. This crisis showed how essential these jobs have always been to our economy. At great risk to the health of themselves and their families, domestic employees worked on the frontlines of the pandemic to provide care to those more vulnerable to COVID–19, seniors, and individuals with disabilities, and provided child care for the children of essential workers and other workers.
A study of Black immigrant domestic employees conducted by the Institute for Policy Studies and the National Domestic Workers Alliance in May and June of 2020 found that 25 percent of employees surveyed experienced or lived with someone who had experienced COVID–19 symptoms. Seventy-three percent of such employees surveyed indicated that they did not receive personal protective equipment ( PPE ) from their employers. Domestic employees experienced a rapid and sustained loss of jobs during the COVID–19 pandemic, which exacerbated the existing financial insecurity experienced by many domestic employees.
Surveys from the National Domestic Workers Alliance and NDWA Labs between March and September 2020 found that for 6 consecutive months, more than half of domestic employees surveyed were unable to pay their rent or mortgage. Nearly 75 percent of employees surveyed did not receive any compensation when their jobs were canceled. The employment of individuals in domestic service in households affects commerce, as described in section 2(a) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 ( 29 U.S.C. 202(a) ), and thus many domestic employees are employees covered under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.
Moreover, domestic services provided by any domestic employee for an employer affect commerce. Domestic employees are hired or contacted for work by phone, mail, or internet, or through newspaper ads, and travel to work through transportation on interstate highways, interstate transit, or vehicles in interstate commerce. In 2025, the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicted that between 2023 and 2033— the number of new jobs for home health and personal care aides will increase by 21 percent, which is an increase of 820,500 jobs; and approximately 162,500 openings for child care positions are projected each year, on average, during such period.
An increasing number of employees, including domestic employees, are finding work on online platforms. An analysis from the JPMorgan Chase Institute found that between 2013 and 2020, the percentage of adults that had earned income from online platforms increased from 0.3 percent to 2.5 percent. Nearly 9 out of 10 domestic employees are women and such women are disproportionately people of color and immigrants. Women, people of color, and immigrants have historically faced barriers to employment and economic advancement.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, domestic employees also tend to be older than other employees. Two in 5 domestic employees are age 50 or older, while just 1/3 of all other employees are at least 50 years old. Domestic employees are paid low wages, can be subjected to workplace health and safety hazards, and face difficulties saving for retirement. An Economic Policy Institute analysis of data from the Current Population Survey indicates that the median wage for a domestic employee is approximately $16.58 per hour, and an Economic Policy Institute analysis of data from the American Community Survey indicates that the median annual wage for such an employee is approximately $20,926.
In practice, the median hourly and annual wages for domestic employees are less than those approximations given that domestic work has largely been negotiated in the informal labor market. Domestic employees experience high rates of poverty. An Economic Policy Institute analysis of data from the Current Population Survey found domestic workers to be 3 times as likely to be living below the Federal poverty level than other workers, and nearly 3 times as likely to be struggling to make ends meet compared to other workers.
Low-wage employees, including domestic employees, experience high rates of minimum wage and overtime violations, violations of laws related to workers’ compensation and other workplace benefits, and illegal retaliation. A 2017 study from the Economic Policy Institute found that 2,400,000 employees, 17 percent of the low-wage workforce, experiences wage theft. A 2009 report from the National Employment Law Project found that employment in private homes was one of the 3 industries with the highest rates of employment and labor law violations.
A landmark study of domestic employees published in 2012 by the National Domestic Workers Alliance, the Center for Urban Economic Development of the University of Illinois at Chicago, and DataCenter titled Home Economics: The Invisible and Unregulated World of Domestic Work indicated poor working conditions across the domestic service industry. The results of this study were later published in a 2019 academic article titled Workplace Health and Safety Hazards Faced by the Informally Employed Domestic Workers in the United States in the journal Workplace Health & Safety.
The findings of such study included that— domestic employees have little control over their working conditions and employment is usually arranged without a written contract; 35 percent of domestic employees interviewed reported that they worked long hours without breaks in the year immediately preceding the interview; 25 percent of live-in domestic employees had responsibilities that prevented them from getting at least 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep at night during the week immediately preceding the interview; and 65 percent of domestic employees interviewed who encountered problems with their working conditions in the year immediately preceding the interview did not complain about their working conditions because they were afraid they would lose their job.
A 2018 study from the Economic Policy Institute found that domestic employees have little access to federally supported employment benefits. For instance— less than 10 percent of such employees receive employer-sponsored retirement benefits; and less than 20 percent of such employees receive employer-sponsored health insurance. Compounding these challenges is the fact that many domestic employees have been, and in many cases continue to be, excluded from key provisions of labor and employment laws like the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 ( 29 U.S.C. 651 et seq. ) and the National Labor Relations Act ( 29 U.S.C. 151 et seq. ).
Live-in domestic employees solely employed by private households remain excluded from the overtime protections under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 ( 29 U.S.C. 201 et seq. ). Minimum employee threshold rules, misclassification of domestic employees as independent contractors, and exclusion of independent contractors from coverage mean that most domestic employees are also de facto excluded from Federal civil rights protections, including protections under title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ( 29 U.S.C. 2000e et seq. ) and other laws.
The International Labour Organization’s Domestic Workers Convention, adopted in 2011, calls for domestic employees to have the right to freedom of association and collective actions, protections against harassment, privacy rights, and the right to be informed of conditions of employment. This Convention also calls for the right of domestic employees to keep their travel documents, the right to overtime compensation and rest breaks, the right to minimum wage coverage, the right to occupational safety and health protections, and mechanisms to pursue complaints and ensure compliance with the law.
The unique nature of their work, in private homes with individuals and families, also often makes it difficult for domestic employees to use Federal programs and policies to improve their skills and training and to join together collectively to negotiate better pay and working conditions. Many domestic employees are also vulnerable to discrimination and sexual harassment. These issues are further exacerbated by the unique working conditions faced by domestic employees, such as isolation, poverty, immigration status, the lack of familiarity with the law and legal processes, limited networks for support, language barriers, and fear of retaliation and deportation.
Millions of older individuals, individuals with disabilities, and families are increasingly relying on domestic employees. Transforming domestic work jobs into good jobs with family sustaining wages and access to benefits can reduce high turnover due to poor working conditions, thereby enhancing quality of care, and supporting the millions of working and retired people of the United States who rely on them.
Connectionstraces to 4
1 reference not yet in our index
- 29 USC 2000e
Citation graph
cites case law
Cites 5Cited by 0 across 0 sources