A descriptive overview of the education and income levels of domestic workers in post-apartheid South Africa

Abstract

A lack of protective employment legislation coupled with the racial and class prejudices of apartheid, resulted in the general exploitation of South African domestic workers (mostly female black Africans and Coloureds). This was perpetrated through education policies detrimental to non-whites and the exclusion of non-whites from skilled labour—consequently many were channelled into unskilled jobs such as domestic work, and forced to endure poor salaries and living conditions. Despite the implementation of new democratic legislation to cover the basic conditions of employment for domestic workers, their education and income levels remain relatively unequal. This article provides a descriptive overview of the education and income levels of domestic workers in South Africa. Statistics from Statistics South Africa show that domestic workers have relatively lower education and income levels compared to other occupations or economic sectors. Significant differences are also observed in the education and income levels of domestic workers in different parts of South Africa. Richer municipalities have more educated and high-earning domestic workers, while the reverse applies to poorer municipalities located mostly in rural and former homeland areas. There is also an increase in the feminisation of the labour market, as more women undertake perceived masculine jobs such as plant and machine operators, while men avoid perceived feminine occupations such as domestic work. This article concludes by making recommendations for future research into this topic.