Domestic Work and Livelihood Experiences from a Gender Perspective in Lusaka, Zambia

Domestic work is one of the oldest occupations in the world and there is an increase in terms of numbers of domestic workers. A domestic worker is an employee with an employment relationship that is performed in the household. Domestic work is an important source of wage employment for women and men and represents 4 to 10 per cent of the total workforce in developing countries and 1 to 2.5 per cent of the total workforce in developed countries. The objective of the study was to investigate the experiences, nature of work performed, livelihood, health consequences, sexuality and coping strategies of female and male domestic worker from a gender perspective. Purposive and respondent driven sampling methods were applied to enlist 120 respondents in Chelstone, Lusaka, Zambia. Structured questionnaires, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions were used to collect data. The data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and thematic content analysis. Results showed that domestic work was performed by women (58%) and men (42%). The predominant reason for engaging in domestic work was poverty (95.0%). Men and women performed duties which cut-across both sexes. The gender dimension did not affect the allocation of tasks. Both women and men are involved in child caring, cleaning the house and surrounding, gardening, washing cars, washing plates, and clothes, ironing, shopping, cooking, care for the elderly, and the disabled. There were numerous experiences that were recounted including long hours of work, sexual harassment, verbal abuse, health consequences and unequal relationships with employers. From the findings it was evident that gender was significantly associated with health consequences with more men suffering than women (χ² obs = 21.259; df =8 and p = 0.006). It can be deduced from this study that domestic workers were probably the most exposed to sexual harassment and rape, and that women were more common to be abused. Relating to coping with work, there was an association with type of coping behaviour with gender at P > 0.05 (χ2obs= 11.715; df = 4 and p = 0.020). The study recommends public awareness efforts and the facilitation of accessible complaint procedures and for the efficient and meaningful application of written provisions.