Even when controlling for demographics and education, domestic workers are paid less than similar workers: Average domestic worker hourly wages as a share of wages paid to demographically similar workers in other professions, 2019
| Wage share | Wage gap | |
|---|---|---|
| Domestic workers | 74.1% | 25.9% |
| Other workers | 100.0% | |
| House cleaners | 79.1% | 20.9% |
| Nannies | 79.8% | 20.2% |
| Home care (non-agency) | 64.5% | 35.5% |
| Home care (agency-based) | 73.5% | 26.5% |
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.
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