{{subst:AFC submission/draftnew}} --'''Globalization of domestic labour''' - is a term used to describe a growing global phenomenon of domestic labour migration. According to the latest report published by the ILO, at least 67.1 million people worldwide are hired as domestic workers 11.5 million of whom are international migrants. 1 Migrant domestic workers account for 7.7% of all migrant workers around the world. 2 The figures vary across regions, the highest number of migrant domestic workers (80% of the total) was recorded in high income countries. As much as 52% of the 11.5 million household workers are concentrated in Arab states, northern, southern and Western Europe and North America- regions which include high income states. But the exact number of domestic migrants is hard to estimate, as some might reside illegally in the territory of destination countries. Domestic labour migration is heavily female-dominated. As the latest reports show, currently there are around 8.5 million women migrant workers worldwide, it accounts for 73.4 % of all domestic migrant workers. Although migrant domestic workers contribute greatly to the economic prosperity and social welfare of both countries of origin and destination, the work they perform is often poorly valued and unrecognized and make them vulnerable to abuse and human rights violation. == '''Globalization and migration''' == Globalization has a significant impact on international migration as it encourages and speeds up the flow of people, services, information and goods across the world. Migration of people in search of better living conditions, better job and life prospects has always been an issue, even before the age of globalization. However the process of globalization, and especially the economic globalization, significantly changed the phenomenon of international migration, increasing its volume, scope and complexity. According to United Nations data, the world migrant population in 1980 was less than 100 million people which gives only 2, 2% of world population. The number of migrants had increased to 170 million people by 2000. The most recent data shows that in 2013 there are an estimated 232 million international migrants. 3 Thus on average, the number of migrants between 1980 and 2013 increased by 4 million people each year. The migrants are distributed unevenly across the world, almost 50% of them lives in ten highly developed, high income countries such as: Australia, Canada, United States and several European countries: France, Germany, and United Kingdom. 4 Globalization makes the world smaller, the boundaries unimportant, the flow of information faster, and the migration easier. People can easily move from one place to another, find a job and better living conditions in different countries around the world. Usually they migrate in search of higher income. Bad living conditions, unstable political and economic situation in their country of origin, low wages act as a push factor in their decision to migrate. This type of migration is called labour migration, which by the International Organization for Migration 5 , is defined as the movement of workers from one country to another for the purpose of employment, as well as the necessity of equal treatment, good working conditions and rights for these workers.” == '''Domestic labour migration:'''== Household workers, the majority of whom are women, comprise a large share of the world’s migrant worker population. Women represent half of the world’s total number of migrants. Since the early 1980s increasing number of women have been moving across borders to find a job and better opportunities abroad, many of them were hired as domestic workers. They were forced to leave due to unemployment and poverty in the countries of origins. It was a significant change as migration has often been perceived as men’ activity. Women usually accompanied their partners or joined them later.7 === '''Definition of domestic work'''=== The definitions are provided by The Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189), in Article 1: (a) the term “domestic work” means work performed in or for a household or households; (b) the term “domestic worker” means any person engaged in domestic work within an employment relationship; 6 Domestic work usually involves a wide range of tasks, such as cleaning, cooking, looking after children or elderly people, gardening and other duties of domestic nature. Because of their domestic character, these tasks are often perceived as low-skilled, and the work of domestic service is very often undervalued both in economic and social terms. However, in contrast to other low-skilled jobs, household service involves unequal power relationships, heavy dependence on the employer especially when a worker lives in the employer’s house, isolation. === '''Push and pull factors'''=== Various factors can be identified that contribute to the increasing participation of migrant women in household work. The first is certainly connected with the fact that women are encouraging to join the labour market in many parts of the world. As a result, many of them find it difficult to balance their work and private life. They have less time to take care of their household and families and thus need a household service. Next factor is related to the ageing society- a huge concern of developed countries- population is ageing fast and what follows is the increasing need for caregiving services. What also matters are the welfare regimes that manage the organization of care across states, due to the fact that public care services are restricted and often difficult to access, for more and more people best solution is to hire caregiving service. Yet another reason can be found in the rise in wealth and the improvement of living standards of the national population. By hiring a household service, families fulfil their care and household needs. Employing a migrant domestic worker is often more profitable, as women workers from abroad are prone to accept lower wages, more flexible working hours than nationals. Among factors that make women to leave their home countries one can identify unemployment and lack of possibilities in the countries of origin, as well as discrimination in the labour market but also the prospects of higher wages and better opportunities abroad.8 == '''Domestic migrant workers’ rights'''== Recently, as the migration of domestic workers has become a global phenomenon the issue of right protection of domestic workers has gained more significance. Thanks to reports and researches people around the world have a chance to see the challenges that millions of migrant domestic workers are facing on a daily basis. In order to improve the conditions of migrant domestic workers delegates at the 100th International Labour Conference adopted international standard concerning decent work for domestic workers. Although the Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189), and Domestic Workers Recommendation, 2011 (No. 201), are not focused specifically on migrant domestic workers but on household workers in general, the documents recognize the rights as well as the vulnerabilities of domestic workers, and include articles related specifically on migration issues, for instance confiscation of passports and recruitment. The documents also indicate that domestic workers should enjoy the same labour rights as other workers such as: reasonable hours of work, the right to weekly rest, clear information about terms and conditions of employment, and above all respect for fundamental rights at work.910 === '''Abuse and human right violation:'''=== Migrant domestic workers, overwhelming part of whom are women, constitute a group which is particularly exposed to abuse and human right violation. The vulnerability of those workers may stem from various factors. The report on Rights of migrant domestic workers in Europe, prepared by Silvia Gonzalez del Pino for The Regional Office for Europe of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, indicates several crucial issues which are as follows: isolation, abusive working conditions, asymmetrical relationships with the employer, the fact that domestic workers depend heavily on their employers (especially when they live in the same house), failure to recognize household service as proper job. The author emphasizes the fact that even in national legal documents domestic workers are referred to as ‘helpers’ rather than workers. But most importantly the lack of effective and transparent legal framework and jurisdiction that would guarantee the protection from abuse and ensure the human rights are not broken. Other factors that contribute to the vulnerable situation of domestic service is the nationality and migration status of the household workers. Migrant domestic workers tend to be even more isolated, because of linguistic barriers, lack of contacts and knowledge about the country and its culture. These barriers make it impossible for them to fully integrate into society or ask for help in the case of abuses.11 Migrant domestic workers in many parts of the world still must face the violation of fundamental principles and rights at work. The conditions they are forced to work in may put their health, security and human dignity at risk. For example, more than half of all household workers does not have limitation of working hours, more than a third does not have a right to take maternity leave12 . Many of them must work excessive number of hours, without proper rest, without paid holidays and thus are deprived of private or family life. For many the salaries are not sufficient to ensure a decent standard of living. 13 == References == Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, International migration report 2013, Available from URL: http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/publications/migration/migration-report-2013.shtml International Organization for Migration, Labour migration, Available from URL: https://www.iom.int/labour-migration, 10.02.2016 1 http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/documents/publication/wcms_436343.pdf 2 http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---protrav/---migrant/documents/briefingnote/wcms_490162.pdf 3 UN DESA, 2013 4 UN DESA, 2013 5 IOM, Labour Migration 6 http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_INSTRUMENT_ID:2551460 7http://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/domestic-workers-little-protection-underpaid 8 http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---protrav/---migrant/documents/publication/wcms_384860.pdf 9 http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_protect/---protrav/---migrant/documents/publication/wcms_384860.pdf 10 http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---arabstates/---ro-beirut/documents/publication/wcms_402364.pdf 11 http://www.europe.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/Study_Domestic_Migrant_webversion.pdf 12 http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---dcomm/---publ/documents/publication/wcms_173363.pdf 13 report, Ms. Silvia González del Pino {{reflist}}