The Informal Labour Sector in Contemporary Urban Society: The Case of Domestic Workers in the Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana

Abstract

The engagement of the services of domestic workers is not a new phenomenon in Ghana. There have however been changes in their engagement over the years particularly in recent times. The study adopts the case study approach to interview 89 employers of domestic workers and 100 domestic workers in Kumasi. This is to ascertain their cultural background and explore their working relations and conditions and nature as well as the extent of change in their engagement. The study also examined the effects of these changes in their engagement on their socio-economic wellbeing and their overall contribution to national development. The sample of domestic workers and their employers were obtained in selected communities where there is a high concentration of the working class. The study revealed that in spite of the changing trends in their engagement such as the involvement of the labour department in the recruitment of some of them, majority of domestic workers, were exploited, lacked good contractual agreement and expressed dissatisfaction about their work. Thus it is recommended that there should be a legislation to guide a regulation of this category of employment in the country. The formation of domestic workers association in the metropolis as well as the introduction of mandatory contractual arrangements should be monitored jointly by the Labour department of the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly and NGOs who are interested in labour issues in order to raise domestic workers to an acceptable level within the social structure in the home environment.

Keywords: Domestic Workers, Contemporary Urban Society, Contractual Arrangements, Informal Labour Sector