Abstract
In contemporary society, care work at home is vital for the economy outside the household to function. Domestic work, nonetheless, is undervalued and poorly regulated, and many domestic workers remain overworked, underpaid, and unprotected. Notions of family and “non-productive” work divert attention from the existence of an employment relationship. This renders domestic workers vulnerable to unequal treatment and means they are usually excluded from employment-based social protection mechanisms. Thus, a crucial component of achieving decent work for domestic workers lies in the recognition that domestic workers are workers, whether they work in a family, are placed in a private household by an agency or are employed in a public or private institution.