CHARACTERISTICS AND HETEROGENEITY OF DOMESTIC EMPLOYMENT IN BRAZIL

Abstract

The objective of this work is to analyze the domestic work describing and verifying the heterogeneity of this occupation through the delineation of the maid’s distinct profiles. To characterize this heterogeneity, concerning to some demographic and socioeconomics characteristics, it was used the method Grade of Membership (GoM). The study was done through the data of “Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicílios” — PNAD of years 1992, 1998 and 2004. It was observed that, despite the low level of formality for this occupation, the process of formalization in the Nineties can be considered as continuous until the recent years, as there were some reduction in the ratio of monthly workers without contract and an increase in the representativity of other sub-groups, mainly for monthly workers. The GoM method delineated four typical profiles for housework. This result confirms the high degree of diversity among these workers and discloses that in the domestic occupation there are women who live with situations of more precariousness and also women who have a well remunerated and steadier work. About one third of these workers had been included in the most unstable group meaning that almost 6% of the feminine force of work is working in the worst type of domestic employment.