Domestic work in Italy: regular and illegal (2002)

Among domestic workers, four out of five are illegal. In percentage terms, more than 76% of illegal workers are employed in domestic services. There are two reasons why illegal work in this sector is so high: economic and bureaucratic. Over the last 20 years, the role of the domestic worker, and in particular of female workers, has changed considerably due to changes in the structure and needs of Italian families. In this context, domestic workers have been divided into two main groups: the first is the Italian women, who are now normally willing to work in order to be able to return home to their families, doubling the amount of work but gaining their economic independence; the other group is made up of female immigrants, who are joined by an increasing number of male immigrants willing to work in this sector.