Domestic work, Italy's invisible economy: half of the 1.6 million workers are illegal, 9 out of 10 are women

A strategic but still underdeveloped and undervalued sector. This is the picture that emerges from the new study 'Domestic work and training - Strategies for bridging the gender gap and enhancing family welfare', by Nuova collaborazione, the National Association of Domestic Workers, carried out by the Luigi Einaudi Research Centre in Turin. An analysis that photographs a fundamental sector for Italian family welfare, which is still marked by irregularities, low wages, unbalanced loads and which fuels a persistent gender gap.

In 2023, there were 833,874 regular workers in the sector - 88.6% women - but ISTAT estimates indicate an actual workforce of more than 1.6 million people, 50% of whom are undeclared. Domestic work represents the sector with the highest rate of undeclared work in Italy, contributing 27% to the country's entire informal economy. "Domestic work is no longer a private need of families, but a public issue of social responsibility and cohesion," emphasised Alfredo Savia, President of Nuova Collaborazione. "It is time to build a national strategy shared between institutions, families and workers, based on targeted incentives, structured training paths and full recognition of the social value of care work."

The study defines domestic work as an 'invisible economy' made up of women (often migrants) who take care of children, the elderly and frail persons, in most cases without rights or protection. The added value of the regular sector is estimated at EUR 16 billion (0.74% of GDP), but household spending on care services has been falling since 2014, a sign of growing economic difficulty. Among low-income households - below the EUR 2,000 monthly threshold - 85% have resorted to private savings and/or forms of debt to meet the expense of a carer. Only a minority fully complied with contribution and regulatory obligations.

Domestic work is more widespread and better regulated in the North-West (31% of the national total) and in Central Italy (28%), where greater economic availability and more structured public services favour the regularisation of contracts. In these areas, the presence of foreign workers is very high: in Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna and Lazio it exceeds 80%, signalling a greater capacity to attract migrant labour. On the contrary, in Southern Italy and the islands, the number of regular domestic workers is significantly lower. The percentages of foreign workers fall below 40% in regions such as Molise and Basilicata, reflecting both lower migration flows and a limited possibility of regularisation. In addition to these critical issues, there is a strong lack of care services: 30% of southern households report the absence of crèches in their neighbourhood, while 53% report the lack of centres for the elderly. This territorial imbalance translates into a direct impact on female employment. Only one woman in three (36%) works in the South, compared with over 60% in the North.

The analysis shows that, before the birth of the first child, the annual incomes of the two parents follow a similar trend, with a slight increase, a sign that the decision to become parents often takes place at a time of relative economic stability. It is after childbirth that the differences are amplified: in the year of motherhood, women's annual income falls by an average of 76%, while fathers' continues to grow, rising by 6%. It is only from the third year that a realignment in income growth rates is observed, but it takes mothers at least five years to regain their pre-maternity wage levels. Meanwhile, over the same time period, fathers record an average increase of 50% compared to the income they received in the year of their child's birth.