Demographic characteristics of domestic workers: Shares of domestic workers in different occupations with given characteristic, 2019

 

Domestic worker occupations
Child care workers Home care aides
All other (nondomestic) workers Domestic workers Percentage-point difference House cleaners Nannies Provider in own home Non-agency-based Agency-based
All 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100%
Gender
Female 46.3% 91.5% 45.2 95.5% 96.8% 97.2% 86.1% 88.8%
Male 53.7% 8.5% -45.2 4.5% 3.2% 2.8% 13.9% 11.2%
Nativity
U.S.-born 82.9% 64.9% -18.0 30.7% 71.6% 70.9% 76.7% 70.4%
Foreign-born U.S. citizen 8.4% 14.8% 6.4 18.5% 11.4% 12.3% 10.6% 15.4%
Foreign-born noncitizen 8.7% 20.3% 11.6 50.8% 16.9% 16.8% 12.6% 14.2%
Race/ethnicity
White, non-Hispanic 62.9% 41.7% -21.3 29.0% 64.6% 54.8% 51.3% 37.0%
Black, non-Hispanic 11.9% 21.7% 9.7 6.5% 7.9% 13.3% 20.1% 30.3%
Hispanic, any race 17.1% 29.1% 12.0 61.5% 23.8% 28.4% 19.5% 22.4%
Asian American/Pacific Islander 6.9% 6.3% -0.6 2.2% 3.3% 2.7% 7.2% 8.6%
Other 1.1% 1.3% 0.2 0.8% 0.5% 0.8% 2.0% 1.6%
Education
Not high school graduate 8.0% 19.1% 11.1 38.9% 14.6% 17.0% 11.0% 15.9%
High school graduate 25.8% 37.6% 11.8 36.9% 30.8% 34.1% 36.2% 40.0%
Some college 28.0% 30.1% 2.1 15.4% 32.9% 34.5% 35.4% 32.1%
Bachelor’s degree 24.3% 10.7% -13.6 7.7% 17.9% 12.1% 14.2% 9.6%
Advanced degree 13.8% 2.4% -11.4 1.2% 3.8% 2.2% 3.2% 2.4%
Age
Under 23 8.3% 9.0% 0.7 2.8% 35.7% 5.9% 6.1% 6.8%
23–29 15.7% 12.9% -2.8 5.9% 25.4% 10.4% 9.7% 13.5%
30–39 22.0% 18.6% -3.4 20.1% 11.8% 17.8% 14.2% 20.0%
40–49 20.6% 19.5% -1.1 28.3% 9.0% 22.6% 16.9% 18.6%
50–54 10.2% 11.7% 1.4 13.9% 4.8% 12.7% 12.4% 12.0%
55–59 9.8% 11.5% 1.7 12.4% 6.1% 15.2% 14.0% 11.2%
60–64 7.2% 8.3% 1.1 8.6% 4.6% 7.7% 11.4% 8.7%
65+ 6.2% 8.5% 2.3 7.9% 2.7% 7.7% 15.2% 9.2%
Median age 41 45 47 26 47 51 45

Notes: 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.

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 who lack 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 basic monthly microdata, EPI Current Population Survey Extracts, Version 1.0.2 (2020), https://microdata.epi.org

View the underlying data on epi.org.