Author: Nicola Duell, Tim Vetter
Client: Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (European Commission)
Publisher: Study on behalf of the Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (European Commission)
Year: 2018
Language: English
Personal household services (PHS) are more and more seen as an instrument to support private households in their efforts to reconcile family, care, and working life. However, for many workers employment in the PHS sector is connected with socio-political problems and precarious employment conditions.
After a review of literature on Personal Household Services and an in-depth statistical analysis of employment structure, working conditions, and the incidence of undeclared work, the study concludes that there is potential to further raise the demand for PHS, which may still be regarded as low in Germany in spite of increases over time. By promoting the professionalization of PHS, demand for good quality PHS might be raised and the willingness to pay for better services might increase. These factors would also help to increase working conditions of PHS workers.