Can we steer clear of precariousness in domestic service work? Exploring labour market pathways of Belgian Service Voucher workers

Dries Lens, Ive Marx, Jarmila Oslejová and Ninke Mussche

No 2106, Working Papers from Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy, University of Antwerp

Abstract: Can domestic service jobs ever be good jobs? We consider the case of the heavily subsidized, strongly regulated and yet also extremely popular Service Voucher Scheme in Belgium. Close to a quarter of Belgian households employ domestic service workers under the scheme. These workers are among the most generously protected in the world in terms of labour rights, social security rights, wages and other benefits. We ask: does this scheme provide an alternative to the precarious, bad quality jobs domestic workers often endure elsewhere? Or is this a case of institutionalised second-tier work? To that end we undertake a sequence-analysis approach on a representative large sample of subsidized workers. We find that the scheme’s subsidized jobs are very good quality in terms of pay, social benefits and labour protection. A substantial share of women finds a way out of vulnerable labor market situations through the scheme. However, a very significant number enter from steady employment. This is clearly at odds with the original objective of offering a steppingstone to women with a vulnerable labour market position. At least in part, the Belgian scheme can be seen as a case of policy overshooting. We suggest some potential improvements.

Date: 2021-06
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