Time to support and reskill domestic workers

Amid the ongoing restrictions meant to reduce the transmission of Covid-19, 32-year-old Nasima Begum, living with her husband and two sons in a Hazaribagh slum, has been finding it very difficult to make ends meet. In early 2020, she and her husband (a rickshaw puller) would earn about Tk 10,500 each month. But the onset of the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns decreased her family income to Tk 4,000. In 2021, the family income continued to decline as she was unable to find suitable house work regularly, as private households have been unwilling to give her full-time work. Employers would engage her for a few hours, and now that the country has gone into another lockdown, she has been asked not to come, leaving her without an income. She also borrowed money from neighbours and relatives which she needs to pay back. With loans mounting, and her landlord collecting full rent by the first week of each month, Nasima continues to borrow money and food, albeit with great difficulty. Despite this, Nasima has not received aid from any organisation till now. Often, she says, some people come and list her name but the aid never reaches her.

This is not just the case of Nasima but thousand others like her. A recent quantitative survey among 56 such women in Dhaka—whose primary occupation is domestic work—revealed that about 54 percent of families' primary breadwinners lost their jobs due to the pandemic. Most had spent their savings during the first wave, and almost 70 percent of households don't have any savings left to spend. As such, more than 79 percent of those surveyed said their food consumption has changed drastically. Most have welcomed the government's subsidised food shops. The last wave led many people to move to their villages, but many don't have family ties to fall back on. Many complain that relatives at village homes do not appreciate this move, and often urban slum-dwellers face harassment from their own family members.

In such a situation, many have thought of switching their jobs, with the general preference being the ready-made garments (RMG) industry, even though this sector too has been struggling amid coronavirus curbs. Many women are looking for opportunities at offices and hospitals to work as a cleaner, or seeking self-employment through stitching or small-scale farming jobs.

Apart from their daily struggles, about 82 percent of the families' children are not going to schools. They are passing their time by playing, watching television or helping their parents earn. The remaining 18 percent are receiving tuition at home. Very few children are going to the informal schools run by non-profit organisations within the slums. Nasima claims that her two sons have lost their focus on education and even face risk of dropout because they have lost the habit of going to school.

What can be done to support them?

Amidst this dreadful situation, the national budget for the fiscal year 2021-22 offered a ray of hope. The only section where domestic workers have been addressed directly is under the natural calamities' fund of Tk 5,000 crore, along with day-labourers, farmers and victims of natural calamities. Another fund of Tk 7.27 crore has been allocated for the development of the living standards of 30,000 marginal communities. Similarly, different funds have been allocated under the government's Social Protection Programme for vulnerable group feeding, vulnerable group development, urban-based marginal women's development, among others. But to get a portion of these funds, domestic workers have to compete with other marginalised groups and informal workers. Given this situation, a specific fund targeting domestic workers can significantly ease their pain. Along with the emergency support, a systematic upskilling programme geared towards domestic workers can also be planned, which would help about 2 million of domestic workers (mostly women and relatively young like Nasima), according to Domestic Workers' Rights Network.

One of the steps required to build their resilience is linking them with platforms like Sheba.xyz, Hello Task, etc. These platforms can connect employers with the workers, satisfying their respective needs. For example, during the pandemic, most of the clients have restricted domestic workers' access to their homes due to the fear of Covid-19 spread. The platforms can ensure periodic tests for the workers by partnering with government-run testing booths where Covid-19 testing can be made free for them. Ensuring proper hygiene practices can be made mandatory during the training sessions. Also a certain portion of wages of the workers can be routed to banks/microfinance organisations/mobile wallets so that women like Nasima can get into the habit of saving. Moreover, the government can support these platforms to provide social safety net support to the domestic workers in terms of insurance, medical aid, children's education, etc.

Abuse of domestic workers at their workplaces is nothing new in Bangladesh. Although in 2015 the government had approved the Domestic Workers' Protection and Welfare Policy, hardly any success can be seen in terms of justice for the harassed workers. Also, decent work indicators such as fair pay, fair work hour, fair management, among others, are almost invisible in their profession. Therefore, these platforms with their innovative technologies can play a significant role in improving the overall service and the plight of those involved.

Online platforms for domestic work-related services also need to be built with a focus on the needs and priorities of these women. For instance, they don't want to travel far for work. Also, their wages have to justify their work hours and travel hours. On the other hand, domestic workers need to be trained on how to behave professionally with their employers and have the openness to be multi-skilled, which is essential under the changing circumstances. They can be encouraged to receive training in the BTEB-accredited caregiving course. As the elderly population is growing worldwide, as well as in Bangladesh, domestic workers through this course may be up-skilled to be caregivers for the elderly, so they can measure their blood pressure, temperature, and weight, and aid in their physical exercise.

These multi-skilling provisions, if opened for domestic workers, can help people like Nasima expand their employment option at different homes or hospitals. The possibility of such formal training can also be considered in case of child care, disability care, youth addiction centres, etc. This will help people like Nasima regain or retain gainful employment even under difficult circumstances.

Ayesha Islam and Tasmiah T Rahman are Deputy Manager and In-Charge respectively of the BRAC Skills Development Programme. The authors acknowledge contributions of research done as part of a project called CHACRI (Choosing Household Work as a Career to Raise Income), a pilot initiative of BRAC Skills Development Programme.