Many of SA’s already vulnerable domestic workers have been left in acute distress by the pandemic and lockdown, with their incomes cut and costs soaring.
This is according to new research from SweepSouth examining the pay and working conditions of domestic workers in SA. Domestic work accounts for 6% of total employment and about 15% of the employment of women in SA.
SweepSouth — a Naspers-backed digital platform that matches employers with people who do domestic cleaning, gardening, plumbing and other household services — found that plummeting income levels and rising expenses have driven many domestic workers to cut their spending on food, and forced many to risk taking on more debt.
SweepSouth’s data showed not only a dramatic drop in earnings due to the pandemic, but a trend that preceded the lockdown, of domestic workers not earning enough to cover basic needs. And the number of their dependents rising.
While most workers, or 63%, were earning more than R2,500 a month before lockdown, only 14% were earning above R4,000, generally considered to be a living wage. But after the advent of the pandemic and lockdown SweepSouth found that 74% were now earning less than R2,500 a month.
The report followed a survey of almost 5,000 respondents, the majority of whom are women, single mothers and sole breadwinners in their households.
The study was conducted from June 7 to August 21 and included both SweepSouth members and external domestic workers, with respondents made up of South Africans (48%), Zimbabweans (49%) and workers from Malawi and Democratic Republic of the Congo making up the remainder.
Even as incomes have shrunk domestic workers living costs have soared almost 35% during the Covid-19 pandemic from 2019 levels, driven by increases in food, rent, transport, electricity and school fees.
Alongside increased costs has come a shift to larger households and a growing number of financial dependents. The number of domestic workers with five dependents rose to 17%, up from 12% in 2019 while those with six or more dependents rose to 20%, up from 14% in 2019.
This is likely the effect of the lockdown, where partners or family members in a household have lost their jobs, and their little earnings expected to cover more of the family’s expenses, SweepSouth CEO Aisha Pandor said.
About 85% have had to cut spending, with the bulk of the cuts coming from money budgeted for food, as households opt for less nutritious and smaller volumes of food.
According to SweepSouth, this is “one of the most terrifying knock-on effects of the pandemic and lockdown” as it poses a severe risk of malnutrition in children which can result in cognitive impairment, stunted growth and behavioural problems later in life.
Given their already vulnerable financial circumstances, about 70% of the respondents were already in debt, with 46% reporting taking on more debt during lockdown, according to the report.
Just 35% of respondents received any form of additional support — in the form of money, food vouchers or clothes — from their clients or employer.
“We are obviously conscious that even employers are under a lot of financial strain,” said Pandor. “But we just want people to be conscious that your domestic worker, who you are paying a couple of thousand rand a month, now has a hugely increased burden.”
The state’s grant increases during the lockdown did ameliorate the affect for SA domestic workers with 69% reporting increased grants. The same was not true for non-South African workers, 96% of whom reported no help of any sort.
Pinky Mashiane, president of the United Domestic Workers of SA trade union, said Covid-19 and the lockdown had come with tremendous challenges.
Many who should have qualified for the Unemployment Insurance Fund-Temporary Employer/Employee Relief Scheme benefit received no money because their employers failed to register them, she said.
Some employers have also used Covid-19 “as a scapegoat to dump their domestic workers” and replace them with new employees, she said.
Mashiane said the union is readying cases of unfair dismal to take to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration against employers who have not yet called their workers back.
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