Working conditions and labour rights coverage of women domestic workers in Peru: a respondent-driven sampling study

Worldwide, 81% of domestic workers (DWs) lack labour rights due to absent labour-protection laws or a lack of enforcement of existing laws. Paid domestic work is a vital source of employment for women in Latin America, yet most DWs continue to experience precarious working conditions and limited access to labour rights. This study describes working conditions and labour-rights coverage among women DWs in Peru and examines variation by employment status.

We conducted a cross-sectional survey using respondent-driven sampling (RDS) to recruit 456 women DWs in Peru, across the regions of Lima, La Libertad, and Piura between 2023 and 2024. Eligible participants were women over 14 years whose primary income was derived from domestic work, including full-time, part-time, live-in, or live-out employment in the employer's household, as well as single- and multi-employer arrangements. We collected detailed sociodemographic, employment, and labour rights data. We estimated unweighted and RDS-II weighted proportions and stratified by employment status (formal versus informal). Formal employment was defined as having a written contract-simple, notarized, arranged through an outsourcing agency, or legally registered-whereas informal employment included only verbal agreements or no contract at all.

In our sample, most women DWs were aged 19 to 45 years and were single. Most were live-out, worked under informal employment, for a single employer, and worked between 7 and 9 h/day. Overall, coverage of labour rights was low, particularly for receiving payslips (2.8%) and severance pay (3.3%). DWs with informal employment were less likely to receive employer-paid social security (23.4%, 95% CI: 0.0-48.2 vs. 67.8%, 95% CI:19.0-100.0), retirement pension (7.0%, 95% CI: 1.3-12.6 vs. 20.9%, 95% CI:4.4-37.4), and paid vacations (24.0%, 95% CI: 16.9-31.0 vs. 41.9%, 95% CI: 20.0-63.8) than DWs with formal employment. The most common barriers to accessing labour rights include a lack of employer-provided coverage, a preference for other insurance schemes, and part-time work or having multiple employers.

Despite legislative advances, DWs in Peru remain largely excluded from meaningful labour protections. Strengthening enforcement, improving employer accountability, and clarifying rights for part-time and multi-employer arrangements are critical to advancing equity and social protection for DWs.