The coronavirus pandemic is placing the nation’s 2.2 million domestic workers—91.5% of whom are women—in a particularly precarious position. Steep declines in work are leading to a devastating loss of income while a lack of protective equipment for those who still work is a real threat to their health. This blog post provides details on who domestic workers are and where they live.

Domestic workers, whose worksites are private homes, have always faced unique challenges and have seen their work undervalued. In the face of the coronavirus pandemic, this already-vulnerable group is placed in a particularly precarious position. Many domestic workers are experiencing a steep decline in work. According to new data from the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA), just over half (52%) of domestic workers surveyed said they had no job for the week beginning March 30—and that share increased to 68% by the next week. Domestic workers face long-term uncertainty, with 66% reporting that they are unsure if their clients will give them their jobs back after the pandemic. The decline in employment for domestic workers represents a significant loss of income for these workers and their families.

Domestic workers who are still on the front lines risk sacrificing their health for economic security. House cleaners—who help families follow the practices advocated by public health officials to help to prevent the spread of disease—and home care aides—who care for sick, disabled, and elderly people—may lack the protective equipment they need. Certain groups of domestic workers are excluded from basic labor protections, including those guaranteed under the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the Family Medical Leave Act, which are particularly important sets of protections for workers in the midst of a pandemic.

Data from the federal Current Population Survey provide a detailed look at the population of domestic workers, overall and by five subcategories of domestic workers.

Table 1 shows that there are over 2.2 million domestic workers in the United States and over half of those are agency-based home care aides. The vast majority (91.5%) of domestic workers are women, as shown in Figure A and Table 2. By comparison, women make up just under half of the rest of the workforce.

While women of all races and ethnicities are overrepresented in the domestic employee workforce, this overrepresentation, shown in Table 3, is particularly pronounced for Hispanic and black women. Figure B shows that house cleaners constitute the domestic worker occupation with the highest share of Hispanic workers (61.5%), while agency-based home care aides constitute the domestic worker occupation with the highest share of black, non-Hispanic workers (30.3%). Table 4 shows the number of domestic workers in each state and the District of Columbia.

Domestic workers are mostly U.S.-born but are much more likely to be foreign-born than workers in other occupations, as shown in Figure C. One-third (35.1%) of domestic workers are foreign born, compared with 17.1% of other workers. One in five (20.3%) domestic workers is a noncitizen, compared with 8.7% of workers in other occupations. House cleaners constitute the domestic worker occupation with the highest share of noncitizens. Those noncitizens that are undocumented are particularly vulnerable in the workplace and are not eligible for unemployment benefits—the primary means of replacing the income that workers have lost due to coronavirus—even under the recently enacted CARES Act.

Domestic workers, who have a median age of 45, are somewhat older than workers in other occupations, who have a median age of 41 (Table 2). Home care aides who are not agency-based are the oldest subgroup of domestic workers, with a median age of 51. Since older people have a greater risk of severe illness from coronavirus, these workers are putting their own lives on the line to care for others.

It is imperative that policymakers and employers increase the ability of domestic workers to practice social distancing without losing income and provide adequate protective equipment to domestic workers who are still cleaning, caring for children, and providing home care services in homes across the country. Policymakers should also address the glaring exceptions to existing labor protections that have long placed domestic workers at risk in the workplace.