Beijing Paradise BBS Backup/PARADISE.ISO/software/BBSDOORW/JOB4.ZIP/OOHB0189.HBK

Text File | 1995-10-24 | 10.5 KB | 215 lines

215
Private Household Workers

(D.O.T.  301 except 687-018; 302; 305; 309 except .354-010,
.367-010, .677-010 and -014)

Nature of the Work

Private household workers clean homes, care for children, plan and
cook meals, do laundry, administer the household, and perform
numerous other duties.  Private household workers are employed by
many types of households of various income levels.  Although wealthy
families may employ a large staff, it is much more common for one
worker to be employed in a household where both parents work.  Many
workers are employed in households having one parent.  A number of
household workers work for two or more employers.

   Most household workers are general houseworkers and usually the only
worker employed in the hom.  They dust and polish furniture; sweep,
mop, and wax floors; vacuum; and clean ovens, refrigerators, and
bathrooms.  They also wash dishes, polish silver, and change and
make beds.  Some wash, fold, and iron clothes.  A few wash windows.
Other duties may include looking after a child or an elderly person,
cooking, feeding pets, answering the telephone and doorbell, and
calling and waiting for repair workers.  General houseworkers may
also take clothes and laundry to the cleaners, buy groceries, and do
other errands.

   Household workers whose primary responsibility is taking care of
children are called child-care workers.  Those employed on an hourly
basis are usually called baby-sitters.  Child-care workers bathe,
dress, and feed children; supervise their play, wash their clothes,
and clean their rooms.  They may also waken them and put them to
sleep, read to them, involve them in educational games, take them
for doctors' visits, and discipline them.  Those who are in charge
of infants, sometimes called infant nurses, also prepare bottles and
change diapers.

   Nannies generally take care of children from birth to age 10 or 12,
tending to the child's early education, nutrition, health, and other
needs.  Governesses look after children in addition to other
household duties.  They may help them with schoolwork, teach them a
foreign language, and guide them in their general upbringing.
(Child-care workers who work outside the child's home are covered in
the statement on child-care workers elsewhere in the Handbook.)

   Those who assist elderly, handicapped, or convalescent people are
called companions or personal attendants.  Depending on the
employers' needs, a companion or attendant might help with bathing
and dressing, preparing and serving meals, and keeping the house
tidy.  They also may read to their employers, write letters for
them, play cards or games, and go with them on walks and outings.
Companions may also accompany their employers to medical
appointments and handle their social and business affairs.

   Households with a large staff may include a housekeeper or a butler,
a cook, a caretaker, and a launderer.  Housekeepers and butlers
hire, supervise, and coordinate the household staff to keep the
household running smoothly.  Butlers also receive and announce
guests, answer telephones, deliver messages, serve food and drinks,
chauffeur, or act as a personal attendant.  Cooks plan and prepare
meals, clean the kitchen, order groceries and supplies, and may also
serve meals.  Caretakers do heavy housework and general home
maintenance.  They wash windows, wax floors, and hang draperies.
They maintain heating and other equipment and do light carpentry,
painting, and odd jobs.  They may also mow the lawn and do some
gardening if the household does not have a gardener.

   Private household child-care workers are often employed only while
children are young.

Working Conditions

Private household workers usually work in pleasant and comfortable
homes or apartments.  Most are dayworkers who live in their own
homes and travel to work.  Some live in the home of their employer,
generally with their own room and bath.  Live-ins usually work
longer hours.  However, if they work evenings or weekends, they may
get other time off.  Living in may isolate them from family and
friends.  On the other hand, they often become part of their
employer's family and may derive satisfaction from caring for them.
Being a general houseworker can also be isolating, since work is
usually done alone.

   Housekeeping is hard work.  Both dayworkers and live-ins are on
their feet most of the day and do much walking, lifting, bending,
stooping, and reaching.  In addition, some employers may be very
demanding.

Employment

Private household workers held about 869,000 jobs in 1992.  More
than half were general houseworkers, mostly dayworkers.  About 40
percent were child-care workers, including baby-sitters.  About 4
percent were housekeepers, butlers, cooks, and launderers.  Most
jobs are in big cities and their affluent suburbs.  Some are on
large estates or in resorts away from cities.

Training, Other Qualifications, and Advancement

Private household workers generally do not need any special
training.  Individuals who cannot find other work because of limited
language or other skills often turn to this work.  Most jobs require
the ability to clean well, cook, or take care of children.  These
skills are generally learned by young people while helping with
housework at home.  Some training takes place on the job.  Employers
show the household workers what they want done and how.  For
child-care workers and companions, general education, background,
and ability to get along with the person they will care for are most
important.

   Home economics courses in high schools and vocational and adult
education schools offer training in cooking and child care.  Courses
in child development, first aid, and nursing in postsecondary
schools are also useful.

   Special schools for butlers, nannies, and governesses teach
household administration, early childhood education, nutrition,
child care, and bookkeeping.

   Private household workers must be honest, discreet, dependable,
courteous, and neat.  They need physical stamina.

   Opportunities for advancement within this occupation are very
limited.  There are very few large households with big staffs where
general houseworkers can advance to cook, executive housekeeper, or
butler, and these jobs may require specialized training.
Advancement usually consists of better pay and working conditions.
Workers may move to similar jobs in hotels, hospitals, and
restaurants, where the pay and fringe benefits are usually better.
Others transfer into better paying unrelated jobs.

Job Outlook

Job opportunities for people wishing to become private household
workers are expected to be excellent through 2005, as the demand for
these services continues to far outpace the supply of workers
willing to provide them.

   For many years, demand for household help has outstripped the supply
of workers willing to take domestic jobs.  The imbalance is expected
to persist and possibly worsen through the year 2005.  Demand is
expected to grow as more women join the labor force and need help
running their households.  Demand for companions and personal
attendants is also expected to rise due to projected rapid growth in
the elderly population.

   The supply situation is not likely to improve.  Unattractiveness of
the work, low status, low pay, lack of fringe benefits, and limited
advancement potential deter many prospective household workers.  In
addition, demographic factors will continue to aggravate the supply
situation.  Teenagers and young adults, the age group from which
many child-care workers and baby-sitters come, will rebound in
absolute terms, but continue to slip further as a share of the
workforce.

   Due to the limited supply of household workers, many employers have
turned to domestic cleaning firms, child-care centers, and temporary
help firms to meet their needs for household help.  This trend is
expected to continue.  (See the statements on janitors and cleaners,
child-care workers, and homemaker-home health aides elsewhere in the
Handbook.)

   Although employment of private household workers is expected to
decline through 2005, many jobs will be available because of the
need to replace the large number of workers who leave these
occupations every year.  Persons who are interested in this work and
suited for it should have no trouble finding and keeping jobs.

Earnings

Earnings of private household workers depend on the type of work,
the number of hours, household and staff size, geographic location,
training, and experience.

   Nearly 2 out of 3 private household workers work part time, or less
than 35 hours a week.  Some work only 2 or 3 days a week, while
others may work half a day 4 or 5 days a week.  Earnings vary from
about $10 an hour or more in a big city to less than the Federal
minimum wage in some rural areas (some domestic workers are not
covered by minimum wage laws).  Those covered by the Federal minimum
wage receive $4.25 an hour.  In addition, dayworkers often get
carfare and a free meal.  Live-in domestics usually earn more than
dayworkers and also get free room and board.  However, they often
work longer hours.  Baby-sitters usually have the lowest earnings.

   In 1992, median earnings for full-time private household workers
were about $179 a week.  The median for cleaners was about $191 and
for child-care workers, about $154 a week.

   Some full-time live-in housekeepers or butlers, nannies, and
governesses earn much higher wages than these.  In New York City,
for example, an experienced cook may earn up to $900 a week.
Trained nannies start at $300-$375 per week, and with experience may
earn up to $800 per week.  A major domo, or senior butler, who runs
a large household and supervises a staff of six people or more can
expect to start at $20,000 and with experience earn over $35,000 per
year.  Private household workers who live with their employers may
be given room and board, medical benefits, a car, vacation days, and
other benefits.  However, most private household workers receive
very limited or no benefits.

Related Occupations

Other workers with similar duties are building custodians, hotel and
restaurant cleaners, child-care workers in day care centers, home
health aides, cooks, kitchen workers, waiters and waitresses, and
bartenders.

Sources of Additional Information

   Information about job opportunities for private household workers is
available from local private employment agencies and State
employment service offices.