Children as domestic employees: Problems and promises

Participatory action research: The distress of (not) making a difference

“…The desire expressed by the working children involved in this study to set a minimum age for employment stood in marked contrast to Bourdillon's (2009) observation that child workers generally do not support minimum age standards as they affect their ability to support themselves and ensure their survival in contexts of poverty (see also Woodhead 1999). The strict application of minimum age standards may result in greater harm, pushing children into more precarious occupations in the struggle to survive (Woodhead 1999;Abebe 2008;Bromley and Mackie 2009).…”

“…Because child domestic work is carried out in unregulated domestic spaces, the living and working conditions of the young employees are largely at the whim of their employers. Traumatic experiences of abuse, exploitation, humiliation and isolation have been documented in numerous national contexts (Camacho 1999, Kifle 2002, Jacquemin 2004, Rubenson et al 2004Klocker 2011Klocker , 2014Blagbrough 2008, Bourdillon 2009, Wasiuzzaman and Wells 2010. Yet attempts to abolish child domestic work in order to protect working children are problematic because the children involved typically have few alternatives (Klocker 2011, 5 2014).…”

Is domestic work aworst formof child labour? The findings of a six-country study of the psychosocial effects of child domestic work

“…In Zimbabwe, Bourdillon (2010) found that 40% of older child domestic workers and 81% of younger child domestic workers were 'happy' with their work and in Tanzania Klocker (2011) documents the many benefits of CDW. There is also great diversity in the nature of this employment as has also been noted by both Klocker (2011) andBourdillon (2009). For many children, this is largely a paid job with a non-family member, while children in Togo and Costa Rica mostly work for family members and a very large proportion of these children are not paid at all.…”

“…A growing body of qualitative research evidences the potentially harmful nature of CDW on children, in particular the risks faced by young child domestic workers working for abusive employers in exploitative conditions akin to slavery (Jacquemin 2004;Black 2005;Blagbrough 2008). But this probably represents an extreme, and some argue that classification as a worst form could be counterproductive, forcing many young child domestic workers from reasonable working environments into worse forms of employment (Bourdillon 2009;Bourdillon, Levinson, and Myers 2011).…”

“…Child domestic workers in Tanzania were asked to describe the benefits of their work and these descriptions included good working and living conditions, being cared for and future opportunities (Klocker 2011). There is also evidence that child domestic workers have access to better education (Ainsworth in Bourdillon 2009) and that they are more well-nourished while working away than while living in their family homes (Garnier and Benefice 2001). On the other hand, because child domestic workers are hidden from view, the degree of harm to which they are exposed is not clear.…”