Laws and Public Policies on Domestic Work in Brazil over the Last Decade: Progress and Setbacks


Ana Beatriz Koury Stratton, USP University of São Paulo

Brazil has consistently ranked at the top of the list of countries with the highest number of domestic workers globally, estimated to be around 6 million today. Despite the significant number of people, the Brazilian legal system has historically marginalized domestic workers, predominantly Black women, within the legal protective framework. This is not surprising in a country with a legacy of over four hundred years of slavery, during which slaves were legally viewed as property. The lengthy coexistence with the slave system prevented the Abolition, passed on 1888, from representing a complete break from this model, which continues to influence Brazilian society to this day. The initial legal regulations concerning domestic employment, dating back to the second half of the 19th century, primarily aimed at sanitary and police control of these workers to protect employers from alleged dangers and contagions. The 1988 Federal Constitution did not extend social rights to domestic workers and the Constitutional Amendment 72, of 2013, allegedly intended to equalize the constitutional rights of domestic workers with those of other employees, has yet to fully correct this historical injustice. This paper aims to analyze legal and jurisprudential changes over the past decade since the approval of the Constitutional Amendment 72, considering a period significantly impacted by four years of a far-right government and a global pandemic. It is noteworthy that the first COVID-19 related death in Brazil was that of a domestic worker infected by her employer, who had just returned from a vacation in Europe and did not release the worker during the recommended quarantine. The economic and gender disparity in care work is also evident within the family sphere. The so-called care economy encompasses unpaid activities related to food preparation, household cleaning, and the care of children and the elderly. Furthermore, this paper seeks to examine the work of the interministerial committee formed by the current federal government to contemplate a public policy for women engaged in caregiving work within their own homes, without access to the job market and retirement benefits. Due to the prevailing patriarchal and sexist culture in the country, these tasks are predominantly undertaken by women, who often sacrifice their education and careers to assume household care responsibilities.According to a 2022 survey by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), among these caregivers, a majority are Black women – two out of every three individuals not engaged in paid work due to caregiving responsibilities or household duties. These women express a desire to enter the job market but do not actively seek employment because of domestic chores or caregiving responsibilities. IBGE data indicates that, if these caregiving activities were remunerated, the care economy would account for 11% of the national GDP. Their access to retirement is also hampered, given the 2019 Pension Reform requiring individuals to retire based on both a minimum age and a mandatory minimum contribution period. In conclusion, in Brazil, concerning both paid and unpaid domestic work, the intersectionality of gender and race reflects a precariousness in legal protection and public policies for these workers. Despite changes in the last decade, significant progress is still required to ensure dignified living and working conditions for these women.

Non-presenting author: Katbe Waquim Bezerra, USP University of São Paulo

This paper will be presented at the following session: