Always on duty: foreign domestic helpers around the world
Working hours for domestic helpers are among the longest and most under-regulated in the world. It is difficult to monitor conditions for the increasing number of helpers on assignments abroad
Low wages and a lack of privacy can inflict a high cost on the health and mental well-being of domestic helpers working overseas. As a workforce, helpers sometimes only have rudimentary education and lack formal skills. Combined with little collective representation, bargaining power or social status, these challenges mean helpers are often left vulnerable to exploitation. Here we pull together key facts and figures to paint a picture of the hardships helpers face, both in Hong Kong and around the world.
The pair-of-shoes calculation
This calculation looks at the number of hours a helper needs to work in order to buy a medium-quality pair of sports shoes in the country where she or he works.
A high percentage of overseas domestic workers are employed in high-income countries, with the Arab states, North America and developed European nations playing host to more than half of the world's foreign domestic helpers. In East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, foreign domestic workers represent approximately one-fifth of the total number of migrant workers.
