Women as Paid Domestic Workers and Policy for Development : Case of China and India

1. Feminist economics in China and India India International Centre, New Delhi, India 11-13 Nov, 2013 Women as Paid Domestic Workers and Policy for Development :Case of China and India Feminist economics in China and India Jin Feng Fudan University Shanghai, China

2. main contents • Supply of Paid Domestic Workers (PDW) in China • Undervaluation and Discrimination to PDW in China • PDW in India • Possible Policies for Improving Their Welfare in Both Countries Feminist economics in China and India

3. Supply of pdw in china • Labor market of PDW has been developing since the middle of 1980s. Up to 2012, there were more than 15 million domestic workers • Female: Survey in Beijing: 85% ; in Shanghai, 98.7% • Migrant: 87% (Shanghai) • Low education: 44% under high school (Shanghai) • Old: average age 44 (Shanghai) • The vast majority of domestic workers in China are engaged in the low skilled job, in elder care, child care, food preparation, washing and cleaning, etc. Feminist economics in China and India

4. women migrant workers in china • 68% China's female population aged 15 and above participate in the labor force, compared to 58 %, 51%. • Around 1/3 of China's millions of rural-urban migrant workers are women (34%, 2011) and they earn around a third less than their male equivalents • Among female migrant workers, PDW are the most disadvantaged group. • However, there is very few official information of migrants from gender perspective, such as women migrants’ occupation, industry, age, wage, etc. Feminist economics in China and India

5. social insurance coverage for migrant workers Source: National Statistic Bureau of China, 2011 Low social insurance coverage, especially maternity insurance for migrant women Feminist economics in China and India

6. minimum wage policy • Keep increasing in China • Not applicable to PDW Long working time; No holiday wage and overtime wage • Some of workers know the minimum wage policy. However, they didn’t realize they may use this policy to bargain with their employers Feminist economics in China and India

7. current regulation in labor market • There is a detailed occupational standard for PDW issued by Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MORSS) • Some PDW have certain kind of certification, but most of them don’t have • On the other hand, there is no clear obligations on agency and employer • About 3000 agencies in Beijing in 2010 and 8000 agencies in Shanghai in 2011 Feminist economics in China and India

8. Undervaluation of Elder Care in China: Relative Wage Feminist economics in China and India Source: Estimated using Domestic workers Survey of Shanghai (DWS) in 2007 and China household income Projects (CHIP) 2007, controlling human capital related characteristics of the workers

9. Who are elder care workers? Feminist economics in China and India

10. UNDERLYING DETERMINANTS • Studies on occupational prestige in urban China show the least prestigious occupations are those service workers, like waiters and attendants, barbers, cleaners and housemaids. Housemaid ranks the lowest occupation among 50 types of occupations. • Elder care is an even worse occupation by the view of domestic workers themselves • Elder care workers are more likely from less developed regions and more likely accept a lower wage • Employers of elder care are generally poorer than other households who hire domestic workers and their ability to pay is lower (30% lower in household income per capita) Feminist economics in China and India

11. PDW in India • The number of female workers in informal sector in India has gone up considerably • Wage of the female domestic workers are very low compared to other workers in the informal sector (Sarkar, 2005) • General problems faced by the female domestic servants at work place: • Not satisfied with their present wages • Imposing extra work burden by employers • Few employers have a tendency to deduct wage for absence in work • Do not permit any extra leave • Sexual harassment • Most of the workers being less educated. The awareness to form a union is lacking Feminist economics in China and India

12. Policy for Future Development: Trade Union • Establishing trade union for PDW • “The Women’s Federation” in China now is helping to settle disputes, but it is not an organization specializing in dealing with labor market issue and it is hard to provide effective protection to those workers. • Raising the voice of workers. Increasing bargaining power in wage, working hour and social security • Transforming social perceptions on PDW Feminist economics in China and India

13. Policy for Future Development: Government Subsidy • Subsidizing social insurance of PDW • Subsidizing elder care user (long-term care ) • Subsidizing wage of PDW • Improving economic status helps to transform social perceptions Feminist economics in China and India Current contribution rate of social insurance

14. Policy for Future Development: Training program • Developing both private and public training programs (government subsidy, tax incentive, non-profit organizations) • Increasing the quality of the training • Improving the skill of PDW Feminist economics in China and India

15. Thank you! Feminist economics in China and India