Domestic Workers in Jamaica

This paper addresses how and why domestic
workers in Jamaica are disenfranchised, with
particular emphasis on the law’s inability to
combat their exploitation in the labour force. My
starting point is an online newspaper article
entitled “Coping as a Domestic Helper”, which
was based on a study investigating the living
standard and coping strategies of minimum wage
earners. In Jamaica domestic workers fall into
three main categories - the residential worker,
the non-residential weekly worker and the daily
worker. Domestic workers are undervalued and
their plight is especially grievous because
they are characterized by a number of features
that combine to have an exponentially negative
effect on their social worth.