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Can we steer clear of precariousness in domestic service work? Exploring labour market pathways of Belgian Service Voucher workers

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  • Dries Lens
  • Ive Marx
  • Jarmila Oslejová
  • Ninke Mussche

Abstract

Can domestic service jobs ever be good jobs? We consider the case of the heavily subsidized, strongly regulated and yet also extremely popular Service Voucher Scheme in Belgium. Close to a quarter of Belgian households employ domestic service workers under the scheme. These workers are among the most generously protected in the world in terms of labour rights, social security rights, wages and other benefits. We ask: does this scheme provide an alternative to the precarious, bad quality jobs domestic workers often endure elsewhere? Or is this a case of institutionalised second-tier work? To that end we undertake a sequence-analysis approach on a representative large sample of subsidized workers. We find that the scheme’s subsidized jobs are very good quality in terms of pay, social benefits and labour protection. A substantial share of women finds a way out of vulnerable labor market situations through the scheme. However, a very significant number enter from steady employment. This is clearly at odds with the original objective of offering a steppingstone to women with a vulnerable labour market position. At least in part, the Belgian scheme can be seen as a case of policy overshooting. We suggest some potential improvements.

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  • Dries Lens & Ive Marx & Jarmila Oslejová & Ninke Mussche, 2021. "Can we steer clear of precariousness in domestic service work? Exploring labour market pathways of Belgian Service Voucher workers," Working Papers 2106, Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy, University of Antwerp.
    • Handle: RePEc:hdl:wpaper:2106
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    Cited by:

    1. Natascha Nisic & Friederike Molitor & Miriam Trübner, 2022. "A Matter of Quality? Experimental Evidence on Preferences and Willingness to Pay for Domestic Services," Working Papers 2209, Gutenberg School of Management and Economics, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz.
    2. Nisic, Natascha & Molitor, Friederike & Trübner, Miriam, 2023. "Rethinking paid domestic services in modern societies – Experimental evidence on the effect of quality and professionalisation on service demand," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 43(13/14), pages 106-128.

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