More and more elderly people in Italy: almost two thirds of domestic workers are carers

With an ageing population process that has been underway for some time, in a context in which a reversal of the birth rate trend is not foreseeable on the horizon, carers are playing an increasingly important role. This is what emerges from the 4th Paper of the 2025 Family (Net) Work Report, entitled 'Domestic work: trends, evaluations and prospects', presented today, Thursday 16 October, in Rome by Assindatcolf, in collaboration with the Fondazione Studi Consulenti del Lavoro.

The paper analyses trends derived from a customised supply of Inps archive data, which allows a dynamic reading of the domestic labour market, i.e. in terms of activations and terminations. In 2024, 383,425 new activations were recorded against 382,611 terminations, with a slightly positive balance (+814), after three years of decline. Carers confirm their new supremacy: almost two-thirds (64.3%) of new contracts concern this figure (they were 53.4% in 2015). On the contrary, contracts for domestic helpers and other collaborators have decreased by more than 20%, while the average duration of contracts is 741 days (just over two years), but with large differences between figures: 449 days for carers and 1,238 for domestic helpers.

In general, the identikit of domestic helpers in Italy is as follows: they are over fifty years old, they are mostly satisfied with the work they do, but they do not stop looking elsewhere: only 38.6% of domestic helpers would, in fact, like to keep their current job, 61.4% aim at a change in the next five years.

A universe, that of domestic work, which in Italy counts 1 million 229 thousand workers - both regular and not - for an economic value generated of around 17 billion euros, equal to almost 1% of the national GDP in 2024. A sector that is essential for the family and social balance of the country, but which is showing signs of fatigue: according to the Inps, 47 thousand workers have been lost from 2019 to 2024, 23 thousand in 2024 alone.

The survey promoted by Family (Net) Work on a sample of 421 domestic helpers - who filled in a questionnaire over the summer - provides an articulate picture of the sector. Carers are the most structured and loyal category: 75% work for a single family, often co-habiting (45.2%), which implies a greater work commitment (44% more than 40 hours a week). They are also the most satisfied: 47.6% say they are very satisfied with their work, in particular because of the relationship they establish with the family and because they love caring for a person in need. Their contractual status is also assessed positively, 33.8% are very satisfied, 43.4% fairly satisfied, but 58.9% express their intention to change their status by 2030.