Policy brief. Migration for Domestic Work in Ghana: Implications for Poverty Reduction. Briefing Paper No.4 October, 2015

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1 M i g r a ti n g o u t o f P o v e r t y R e s e a r c h P r o g r a m m e C o n s o r ti u m Policy brief Briefing Paper No.4 October, 2015 Migration for Domestic Work in Ghana: Implications for Poverty Reduction Studies indicate that a majority of people who migrate into urban centres in Ghana tend to move into the informal sector into low-paid, short-term, and insecure occupations, particularly into domestic work. Recent research on Migrant Domestic and Construction workers in Accra, conducted by the Migrating out of Poverty RPC team at the Centre for Migration Studies, University of Ghana, indicates that domestic workers make critical contributions to the functioning of families, households and the labour market and to the care economy in general and to sending remittances back home, thus underlining their importance for Ghana s economic and social development. Despite this domestic workers largely work under difficult circumstances and obvious disadvantages and vulnerabilities. Gender is a crucial factor mediating the experiences, work conditions, remuneration of both male and female domestic workers, the impacts on their wellbeing, and their ability to exercise some agency and employ various forms of strategies to influence and shape their work situations. The research calls for five policy recommendations to regulate and enhance the positive contributions of migration for domestic work. Introduction As Ghana is rapidly urbanizing, rural- urban migration has increasingly become an integral part of people's livelihood strategies in Ghana. Recent studies indicate that a majority of the people who have moved into urban centres in Ghana tend to move into the informal sector in low-paid, short-term, and insecure occupations. Consequently, the informal sector s share of employment in Ghana has risen from 83.9% in 2000 to 88% by 2013 (Baah-Boateng, 2015). Of the several precarious activities prevalent in the urban informal sector, domestic work provides employment opportunities for many migrants from poor households. In Ghana, domestic work has emerged as a growing economic sector, as more households are substituting care work previously performed by female household members with external domestic services. Consistent with the global situation where women constitute about 83% of the domestic workforce (ILO, 2011), domestic work in Ghana is mostly, but not exclusively, performed by women, mostly migrant women. Despite the recent increasing flow of migrants into domestic work in urban Ghana, attempts to examine the livelihoods of migrants in these precarious occupations, how migration status and gender intersect and structure these experiences and how these have been used as a route out of poverty have been limited.. Recent research on Migrant Domestic and Construction workers in Accra, conducted by the DFID funded Migrating out of Poverty RPC team at the Centre for Migration Studies, University of Ghana, indicates that domestic workers make critical contributions to the functioning of families, households and the labour market and to the care economy in general and to sending remittances back home, thus underlining their importance for Ghana s economic and social development. Despite this domestic workers largely work under difficult circumstances and experience obvious disadvantages and vulnerabilities. Study Approach The data used for this brief was extracted from a larger study on migrants working in domestic and construction sectors in the Greater Accra region of Ghana, as part of the Migrating Out of Poverty Research Programme Consortium in Ghana. It employed mainly a qualitative research approach, focusing on migrant domestic workers in Accra (destination) and members of their households left behind in two migrant sending areas, the Northern and Volta Regions. (i.e origin). Employers of domestic workers and domestic worker recruitment agencies were also interviewed in Accra. The Policy Context for regulating Domestic Work in Ghana Domestic work contributes significantly to the functioning of families, households and the labour markets for Ghana s economic and social development. However, it is largely undervalued as it carries a low value accorded to women s unpaid care work. It is thus poorly regulated and undertaken outside the realm of labour regulations. Although Ghana has no holistic policy that addresses domestic work in Ghana, there are various laws which provide an overall policy and institutional framework for conditions of work for workers and in providing for the rights of workers in Ghana, including domestic work. These include the 1992 Constitution, the Labour Act (Act No. 651 of 2003) and its legislative instruments, the Children s Act and the Domestic Violence Act. Ghana also ratified seven of the eight ILO core Conventions in Despite this Tsikata (2011) points out that although in terms of coverage, the law is actually there for everybody, the labour law regime does not provide adequately for workers in the informal economy in general and domestic workers in particular. Given the fact that the informal sector is the main economy of Ghana, this means that most workers in

2 Ghana do not enjoy the protection of labour laws. Furthermore, the informality of domestic work and its occurrence in the private sphere has meant that their rights are often not enforced. The Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations and its Labour Department are the key institutions governing recruitment of migrant labour and particularly migrant domestic workers. Monitoring the activities and operations of recruitment agencies and intermediaries by the Labour Department is however hampered by lack of adequate staff and adequately trained labour officers. Although ILO convention 189 on decent work for domestic workers is yet to be ratified, there are increasing calls from Labour unions and other stakeholders for its ratification in Ghana. A domestic services workers union (DSWU) has recently been formed with affiliation to the TUC. Key Point: Although Ghana has no holistic policy that addresses domestic work in Ghana, there are various laws which provide an overall framework: These include: 1992 Constitution, Labour Act (Act No. 651 of 2003) and its legislative instruments, Children s Act Domestic Violence Act. Some ILO core Conventions have been ratified employers that girls can easily be controlled, as well as the fear by some female employers that older women could end up having sexual relationships with their husbands. Age was a determining factor for access to employment as older women were preferred for households with young children, as well as for households headed by single men, usually expatriates. Key Point: Migrant domestic workers are predominantly women and the activities performed are highly gendered In terms of educational status, there were no significant difference between male and female domestic workers. However contrary to perceptions that domestic workers have no education at all, only three out of the thirty domestic workers had never been to school. Most of them, at the minimum, had some years of primary education, with more than half having secondary education, and some possessing diploma qualifications. Thus a new pattern appears to be emerging where more highly educated young women and men, many of whom have completed Senior High School use migration for domestic work as a route to further their education and generally as a livelihood strategy. Gendered Roles and Characteristics of Male and Female Migrant Domestic Workers Although a few men are in the domestic work sector in Ghana, migrant domestic workers are predominantly women and the activities performed are highly gendered. Female domestic workers tend to perform multiple household tasks, such as house cleaning, cooking, washing, shopping, and caring for children and aged household members of the household, while male domestic workers, on the other hand, tend to work as gardeners, drivers, security men, and gate keepers. The differences in the nature of tasks performed by male and female domestic workers can be attributed to gendered division of labour in Ghanaian households. Given the different nature of their jobs and their location in society, the vulnerabilities and needs of men tend to differ from those of women domestic workers. Males were more likely to have formal skills training and to possess a formal document or license, such as a driving license compared to female domestic workers. Lack of formal skills training, which then genders type of domestic work undertaken, was a determining factor in wage levels and conditions of work in general. The age distribution of domestic workers was also gendered. Female domestic workers were younger, aged between 13 and 20 years, while male migrant domestic workers, tend to be older, often aged more than 25 years. The high proportion of young girls in the domestic work sector in Ghana was linked to the traditional gender division of labour, the perception by Figure 1: The gendered nature of domestic work Conditions of Employment of Domestic workers. Female domestic workers performed a variety of household chores including child care, and are more likely to live in with their employer in the same housing unit than male domestic workers who perform specific tasks such as driving and gardening. The accommodation arrangement had implications for the number of hours worked a day, the variety of tasks performed, the ability to work for other clients and thereby earn an extra income, and for the level, type and frequency of abuse suffered by female and male domestic workers. Young female domestic workers who tend to live in with their employers, performed several household tasks (e.g. cooking, cleaning, and caring for children) which required them to work for longer and unscheduled hours, and were also more prone to verbal and physical abuse by their employers. In contrast, male domestic workers who tend to live outside, perform only specific duties and as such work for shorter periods of time and within scheduled periods, and often tend to have more time to engage in multiple livelihoods. They are also more highly valued by their employers because of their skills and tend Page 2 P o l i c y B r i e f

3 to wield more power than female domestic workers. Recruitment and Nature of Contracts of Migrant Domestic Workers The study shows that many of the migrant domestic workers were informally recruited. Social networks, informal recruitment agencies and intermediaries played a major role in negotiating the informal contract of the domestic worker. In most cases, there were no formal contracts of terms of employment for both male and female migrant domestic workers, but the nature of duties to be performed were clearer for male domestic workers than female domestic workers. For instance, some male domestic workers were employed solely for driving while others are employed for gardening. Consequently, they were able to demand extra pay for any extra work they were asked to perform. In contrast, most female domestic workers do not have clear job descriptions. Consequently, they cannot ask for payment for any extra work performed. Thus, while female live in domestic workers are paid lower wages, they also work longer hours, as stated by one of domestic worker. Experience of a live-in domestic worker They want me to work like a machine. I wake up before 4am and do so many things. I sleep only when they are all sleeping. However the findings indicate that increasingly more formal and semi-formal recruitment agencies specialising in the recruitment, training and placement of domestic workers has been on the increase and act as intermediaries between female domestic workers, in particular, and their employees and are trying to formalize contracts between domestic workers and employers. The agencies fix wages for the young female domestic workers and discuss the terms of employment with them, and try to resolve disputes or problems that may arise between the domestic worker and employer. Thus in line with trends reported in other parts of Africa and Asia, there is a gradual formalisation of employment procedures through agencies that recruit poor women for employers.. Despite the general view that female domestic workers work for long hours, and are generally exploited, some domestic workers reported that they worked under flexible conditions and were using this opportunity to combine work with studying for a higher qualification Income and Remittance sending patterns of Migrant Domestic Workers The wages paid to the domestic workers were generally one of the lowest in the informal sector. Majority of domestic workers receive wages that were lower than the minimum daily wage of GHs5.24 ($1.63). The salary of female domestic workers varied from GHs 40 ($12.46) per month to about GHC 250 ($77.88) a month, in addition to free food and accommodation. There were gendered differences in the wages of domestic P o l i c y B r i e f workers, with men receiving higher wages than female domestic workers. For instance, in one house, the driver, who is a migrant from the Central Region, receives 500 Ghana cedis monthly ($156) in addition to GHs8 ($2.5) daily for his lunch. In the same house, the female domestic worker who is a 21 year old migrant from the Volta region receives GHs 60 ($18.75) monthly, in addition to free food and accommodation. In some cases, the domestic worker serves the employer for a negotiated period of time without wages, after which the employer supports her to learn a trade (e.g. hairdressing or sewing). A major reason why male domestic workers receive higher wages than female domestic workers is the fact that male domestic workers are seen as more highly skilled with skills such as driving and gardening. This is captured in the statement below by an agent: I can say men are paid higher than women because of the differences in their jobs. The drivers, you mentioned are doing work that requires skills. They can go and work for a company as a driver so employers looking for drivers try to pay them good money. Although female domestic workers in general were paid lower wages compared to men, there were differentials among women. Age, possession of skills such as being a nanny, previous migration experience to an urban area, and duration of work as a domestic worker, were factors that were taken into consideration by employers in negotiating higher salaries for female domestic workers. The important role that migrant remittances play in economic and social development and particularly in enhancing household welfare has been widely acknowledged. Recent evidence indicates that the total sum of internal remittances in Ghana exceeds international remittances. Given that internal remittances are mainly from poorer migrants and reach a larger number of poor families, the impacts on poverty reduction are likely to be significant (Mckay et al, 2011). Almost all the migrant domestic workers interviewed send remittances to their families back home. The study indicates that even though male domestic workers earn higher than female domestic workers, older female domestic workers tend to send more money home and do so more regularly, thus corroborating findings from other studies in northern Ghana and Asia. Non financial remittances such as food stuff and clothing was common among migrant domestic workers, with the frequency of remitting being higher among migrants who have left behind young children or aged parents. Migrant Domestic Workers Agency The study found that despite obvious experiences of exploitation and despite being in a position of less power, domestic workers adopt various strategies to contest and manage their employment conditions and find creative ways to cope with and minimize their exploitation. Page 3

4 These strategies include keeping very quiet and pretending to be sick, foot dragging, go-slowing, or general nonresponsiveness, whenever they were overworked or unhappy with a particular situation in the household. Other strategies adopted by domestic workers strategies included deliberately not cleaning well, over use of cleaning materials so as to increase the household cost to the employers, or simply not smiling with anybody in the house so as to register their unhappiness when they are being abused. These strategies, more common among female domestic workers who live with their employers, sometimes forced their employers to give them some space to rest as shown in statement below: Agency of a migrant domestic worker I don t have any rest in the house. Sometimes I work from morning till evening, from the shop to the house and she keeps on adding the things [tasks] I must do. The only way I can rest is to tell her I am very sick. So hmm there were days I tell her I am sick. Even that she will only believe me when she knows I cannot eat. So in the days that I told her I was sick, I made sure I ate little although I was hungry Another strategy which some domestic workers adopt to deal with exploitation is to develop friendship ties, often of a sexual nature with their employers or the spouses of their employers. By secretly dating the male partner of their employer, they gain the favour of the man, who is seen as the head of the household. These findings illustrates that although employers are generally assumed to be in positions of power, exploiting rather than being exploited, the reality is often more nuanced and may be prone to constant negotiations with and concessions to the domestic worker. Wellbeing of Migrants Domestic Workers Despite all the challenges, majority of migrant domestic workers believed that they had achieved many of their migration aspirations and that life as a domestic worker in Accra was better than life in the village. Most of the domestic workers, both men and women, reported that migrating to Accra had given them opportunity to earn money which they send home to support their families. Domestic work had also helped some migrants to save money to plan towards their education as illustrated below: Aspirations of a migrant domestic worker The thing is I want to go to school now so I am saving money, if I save enough to pay for my school fees and everything, I will quit this job. Frankly speaking, I am working to gather enough money to enable me to save and finance my education. I don t intend to stay in this job for long. Conclusions and Policy Implications These findings indicate that while domestic workers, in general face several challenges which are related to the unequal power relations, there are clearly gendered differences in the experiences of male and female migrant domestic workers in Ghana. While male migrant domestic workers receive relatively higher salaries and have a higher status in households because of their skills, which give them stronger agency, the multiple household tasks performed by female domestic workers are under-valued. Female domestic workers receive lower salaries even though they work longer hours. Part of this problem is due to the fact that patriarchal gendered norms are transferred to the domestic work market. Furthermore the informality of domestic work, the fact that it is performed mainly by women invisible in private homes, often perceived as part of women s unpaid care work, and the lack of legal systems and institutions to regulate and protect vulnerable groups presents further challenges. The findings also suggest that the portrayal of migrant domestic workers as passive agents and as victims, may not always reflect the entire situation as they exercise some agency and employ various forms of strategies to survive in the various contexts and to influence and shape their work situations. The formation of a domestic services workers union (DSWU), should provide avenues for the regulation and protection of domestic workers. It is therefore important that policies to protect the rights of migrant domestic workers recognise and understand these nuances in order not to further disadvantage migrant domestic workers. Policy Recommendations This brief raises a number of policy issues related to migration and the domestic work sector in Ghana and argues for the following policy recommendations: Address spatial inequalities in development: Rural and broadbased regional development must be promoted to reduce spatial inequalities. Such policies must promote small and mediumsized towns across Ghana as alternative centres to rural-urban migrants. Protect migrants in the informal sector: Scale up public education on the rights of migrant domestic workers and strengthen relevant state agencies both financially and technically to implement international and national laws on the protection of migrants working in domestic service. Institute and enforce legal instruments to regulate wages and work conditions in the informal sector, including the domestic work sector. The Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations and the Labour Department must be strengthened to monitor the activities and operations of recruitment agencies effectively. Facilitate the ratification of ILO Convention 189 on Decent work for Domestic workers to protect domestic workers Recognise the gendered character of the informal economy and domestic work in developing policies and programmmes to address vulnerabilities in domestic work.

5 Institute and enforce legal instruments to regulate wages and work conditions in the informal sector, including the domestic work sector. The Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations and the Labour Department must be strengthened to monitor the activities and operations of recruitment agencies effectively. Facilitate the ratification of ILO Convention 189 on Decent work for Domestic workers to protect domestic workers Recognise the gendered character of the informal economy and domestic work in developing policies and programmmes to address vulnerabilities in domestic work.. Create a Positive Perception of migration for domestic work: Domestic workers send back remittances to their areas of origin and thereby contribute to the socio-economic development and wellbeing of their households. Therefore, if effectively regulated and managed migration to urban areas for domestic could offer opportunities for poor migrants to provide essential services and also earn income to enhance the wellbeing of their families. Key Readings Main reference for this briefing is: Awumbila, A., Teye, J., and Yaro, J. (2015). Migration for Construction and Domestic Work in Ghana: Impli cations for Poverty Reduction. Global Qualitative Research in Ghana (GP011). Migrating out of pov erty RPC, University of Sussex Other readings Awumbila, M; Owusu, G and Teye, J. (2014). Can Rural- Urban Migration into Slums ReducePoverty? Evi dence from Ghana. Migration Out of Poverty Re search Consortium,. Working Paper 13,University of Sussex, Brigton. McKay, A., Castaldo, A., Gent, S., Deshingkar, P. and Sandi, S. (2011). Internal Migration and Poverty: Evi dence from Ghana and India. Briefing Paper 1, Migrating Out of Poverty RPC. Brighton: Migrating out of Poverty Research Programme Consortium, University of Sussex. Tsikata, D. (2011). Employment Agencies and the Regulation of Domestic Workers in Ghana: Institutionalizing Informality? Canadian Journal of Women and the Law, Volume 23,Number 1, 2011, pp For more information please contact: Migrating out of Poverty RPC Arts B, University of Sussex Falmer, Brighton BN1 9QN, United Kingdom tel: Migrationrpc@sussex.ac.uk web: The Migrating out of Poverty RPC aims to promote policy approaches that will help to maximise the potential benefits of migration for poor people, whilst minimising its risks and costs. Following on from the Migration DRC which was established in 2003, Migrating out of Poverty is undertaking a programme of research, capacity-building, training and promotion of dialogue to provide the strong evidential and conceptual bases needed for such policy approaches. Migrating out of Poverty is funded by the UK Government s Department for International Development, although the views expressed in this policy briefing do not express DFID s official policy. This briefing was written by Mariama Awumbila, Zainab Musah and Collins Yeboah. For further information on this work please contact Migration RPC Communications Manager, Collins Yeboah (collinsybh@yahoo.com).