Even though research data on domestic workers is almost non-existent for Ghana
(Apt, 2005), domestic work is believed to be a substantial segment of the workforce. A
recent study (LAWA-Ghana, 2003) states that there is at least one domestic worker in each
house, and large houses could have as many as six. While this statement is not based on a
census or a survey, and conflicts with available statistics on the labour force composition
in Ghana, it is supported by general knowledge about domestic arrangements in Ghanaian
households. Many households, irrespective of their poverty status, have been known to
employ domestic workers on a wide range of terms and conditions. Domestic workers, like
others in the informal economy, which accounts for 80 per cent of the labour force (Ghana
Statistical Service, 2008), are largely undocumented and undeclared, and this makes an
accurate breakdown of types of work in the informal economy difficult. Accounting for
domestic workers is even more difficult because of the “hidden” nature of their work,
which is carried out in private homes; the use of under-age domestic workers who are not
likely to have a consciousness of themselves as workers; and the practice of using poor
family relations as unpaid domestic workers. These factors disguise the employment
relationship and result in labour statistics which contradict what is common knowledge
about the prevalence of domestic work. As we shall see later, the problem of labour
statistics is compounded by the differences in official definitions of domestic work.
Therefore, although domestic work in Ghana is implicitly covered by most of the
provisions of the country’s labour laws, 1
it would be difficult to monitor and regulate its
terms and conditions even if government agencies and labour organizations were in a
position to do so. Notwithstanding the difficulties in ascertaining the numerical
contributions of domestic workers to the informal workforce, their contribution to the
reproductive functions of households and to the care economy underlines their importance
to the economy and social system. Therefore, the conditions of domestic work should
concern researchers and policy-makers in a period of renewed interest in employment
conditions worldwide.