The study has the following objectives:
(1) build a baseline data on domestic helpers 7 to 17 years of age with emphasis on their socio-economic profile, previous work experience, present employment situation and aspirations/plans for the future; and
(2) identify problems/issues associated with children in domestic service and to formulate the relevant policies and programs/services in response to these problems.
The employment of children, especially in the area of domestic service, is a result of poverty. Almost all the respondents in this study come from poor families in the economically depressed regions and provinces of the country which are characterized by lack of income earning opportunities. The parents, if they are still living, are mostly engaged in subsistence agriculture, domestic work, or casual labour where earnings are not only meager but unstable and irregular.
There is a growing perception that the “feminization” of child domestic service in particular and child labour in general is a growing phenomenon. In this particular study, the female comprise 93.1 percent of the total number of respondents.
The supposed employment of very young children (under age 10) is apparently not supported by the study’s findings. Majority of the respondents fall within the 15-17 age range.
The employers of child domestics are mostly from the middle class, specifically classes C and D households. That the middle income households are the major employers of child domestics suggests that they are doing a form of “income stretching.” Children are paid lower wages compared to their adult counterparts.
As regards schooling, child domestics have fairly decent educational attainment. At least 386 or 80.2 percent of the respondents have completed the elementary grades.
As a general trend, child domestics have been recruited through the informal network – either through relatives or their town/barrio mates. In some cases, it is the relative of the employer who recruits them from provinces.
These findings have serious implications on policy and program interventions. Concerted efforts by government, the non-government organizations, the employers, the recruiters, and the sending communities, must be harnessed and mobilized to help mitigate the current situation of child domestics.
