Hourly wage gaps for domestic workers, by occupation and demographic group, 2019

Domestic worker occupations
Home care aides
Domestic workers House cleaners Nannies Non-agency-based Agency-based
All -25.9%*** -20.9%*** -20.2%*** -35.5%*** -26.5%***
Gender
Female -25.9%*** -18.4%*** -22.4%*** -34.9%*** -26.7%***
Male -35.7%*** NA NA NA -33.6%***
Nativity
U.S.-born -27.5%*** -30.8%*** -15.6%*** -34.4%*** -28.0%***
Foreign-born U.S. citizen -27.3%*** -19.5%*** NA NA -27.9%***
Foreign-born noncitizen -15.9%*** -8.6%*** NA NA -14.1%***
Race/ethnicity
White, non-Hispanic -30.9%*** -31.6%*** -15.5%*** -40.0%*** -33.6%***
Black, non-Hispanic -22.2%*** NA NA NA -20.9%***
Hispanic, any race -22.8%*** -15.0%*** -24.4%*** NA -26.1%***
Asian American/Pacific Islander -31.2%*** NA NA NA -29.0%***
Other NA NA NA NA NA
Education
Not high school graduate -8.3%*** -9.0%*** NA NA -8.5%***
High school graduate -19.1%*** -18.1%*** -7.5%** -30.3%*** -19.1%***
Some college -27.6%*** -28.4%*** -17.1%*** -33.5%*** -28.4%***
Bachelor’s degree or more -62.8%*** NA -51.8%*** NA -62.7%***
Age
Under 23 -5.9%*** NA -8.2% NA -3.5%
23–49 -23.5%*** -20.1%*** -26.3%*** -36.3%*** -22.6%***
50+ -31.3%*** -18.5%*** NA -38.0%*** -32.8%***

Notes: All wage gaps are significantly different from zero at the 0.01 level. The regressions control for gender, nativity, race/ethnicity, educational attainment, age, marital status, and census geographical division. To ensure sufficient sample sizes, this figure draws from pooled 2017–2019 microdata. Since the best wage measure in the Current Population Survey is unavailable for self-employed workers, wages of workers who provide child care in their own homes are not included. To ensure sufficient sample sizes, this table draws from pooled 2017–2019 microdata. “Foreign-born” refers to anyone who is not a U.S. citizen at birth.

All wage gaps are significantly different from zero at the 0.01 level. The regressions control for gender, nativity, race/ethnicity, educational attainment, age, marital status, and census geographical division. To ensure sufficient sample sizes, this figure draws from pooled 2017–2019 microdata. Since the best wage measure in the Current Population Survey is unavailable for self-employed workers, wages of workers who provide child care in their own homes are not included.To ensure sufficient sample sizes, this table draws from pooled 2017–2019 microdata. “Foreign-born” refers to anyone who is not a U.S. citizen at birth. “Foreign-born noncitizen” includes foreign-born persons who are either lawful permanent residents, in a nonimmigrant status (migrants with temporary visas), or lacking an immigration status, including both unauthorized immigrants and those with lawful presence (such as DACA recipients and asylum applicants whose cases are in process).

Source: Economic Policy Institute (EPI) analysis of Current Population Survey Outgoing Rotation Group microdata, EPI Current Population Survey Extracts, Version 1.0.2 (2020), https://microdata.epi.org

View the underlying data on epi.org.