Exploring the impact employment as a domestic worker has on women's wellbeing and related trade-offs : a study of female live-out domestic workers in Colombo, Sri Lanka

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EXPLORING THE IMPACT EMPLOYMENT AS

A DOMESTIC WORKER HAS ON WOMEN’S

WELLBEING AND RELATED TRADE-OFFS

A study of Female Live-out Domestic Workers in Colombo, Sri Lanka

Mystique Nelis

M.Sc. International Development Studies

Graduate School of Social Sciences

University of Amsterdam

Cover Photo: A domestic worker sweeping in front of her house in Rajagirya, Colombo The picture was taken during the Fieldwork in Sri Lanka, July 2015

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Master’s Thesis

Exploring the Impact Employment as a Domestic Worker has

on Women’s Wellbeing and Related Wellbeing

A study of Female Live-out Domestic Workers in Colombo, Sri Lanka

In Collaboration with:

Name Mystique Nelis

Student Number 10918892

Email mystiquenelis@gmail.com

Course Master of Science in International Development Studies Supervisor Nicky Pouw

Second Reader Niels Beerepoot

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Abstract

Traditionally, domestic workers have been presented as ‘vulnerable’, given their lack of rights and legal protections. While these workers, most of whom are women, do suffer from the precarious nature of their work, they are not powerless. This research

combines the Capabilities and Wellbeing Approach to explore the perceptions and priorities of female live-out domestic workers in Colombo, Sri Lanka. This was done through exploring their trade-offs; between the material, subjective and relational wellbeing; over time; and between individual and collective wellbeing. A mixed method approach of in-depth interviews, focus groups, surveys, time logs and cash flow logs was utilised.

This research found that domestic workers’ wellbeing is strongly influenced by their relationships with their family and their female employers. While income is an important means – which is preferred over work benefits – a day’s wage would be foregone to protect or care for their family members. Being treated fairly by their employers was essential for these workers, and they would, therefore, be willing to tolerate lower salaries, however if treated badly, they terminated their employment. Society’s views about their profession, however, did not influence their desire to work and earn money. It is argued that the female domestic workers can capitalise on their informality and exercise employment-related agency based on these relationship-related priorities. Keywords: Capabilities Domestic Workers Informal Work Trade-offs Wellbeing

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Lists of Figures, Maps, Images and Tables

List of Figures

Figure 1: The Three Dimensions of Wellbeing 19

Figure 2: Conceptual Scheme 22

Figure 3: A Percentage of Males and Females employed in Informal and

Formal Economy 30

Figure 4: Sri Lanka’s Social Institutional Gender Index Scores 31

Figure 5: Ethnicity of Female Domestic Workers 35

Figure 6: Female Domestic Workers’ Religion 35

Figure 7: Female Domestic Workers’ Marital Status 37

Figure 8: Household Members employed compared to Total Household

members 38

Figure 9: Female Domestic Workers’ Household Expenditures vs. Income

in Sri Lankan Rupees 40

Figure 10: Distribution of Tasks Performed by Female Domestic Workers 44

Figure 11: Female Domestic Workers’ Monthly Income in Sri Lankan

Rupees 44

Figure 12: Statistics of Benefits Female Domestic Workers Received 46

Figure 13: The Two-Sided Coin of Informality 47

Figure 14: Two Outcomes of Informality 47

Figure 15: The Relationship between Income Level and Relationship 57

Figure 16: Female Domestic Workers Wellbeing Trade-offs 60

Figure 17: Relationship between Individual and Collective Wellbeing 62

Figure 18: Domestic Workers Experiences and Attitudes of the Past, Present

and Future 65

Figure 19: Four Stages of the Employment Relationship 73

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List of Maps

Map 1: Island of Sri Lanka 33

Map 2: Colombo, with Rajagirya indicated 33

List of Images

Image 1: Domestic Worker Focus Group 27

Image 2: The Sri Lankan Flag 29

Image 3: Houses in a Slum in Rajagirya 40

List of Tables

Table 1: A Gendered Division of the Economically Active & Inactive Population

30

Table 2: Female Domestic Workers’ Ages 34

Table 3: Female Domestic Workers’ Household Size 36

Table 4: Monthly Expenditures of Female Domestic Workers in Sri Lankan

Rupees 40

Table 5: Female Domestic Workers’ Weekly Time Distribution 42

Table 6: Female Domestic Workers’ Weekend Time Distribution 42

Table 7: Female Domestic Workers’ Working Hours 43

Table 8: Statistics of Tasks Performed by Female Domestic Workers 43

Table 9: Statistics of Benefits Female Domestic Workers Received 45

Table 10: Tally of Benefits Female Domestic Workers Received 45

Table 11: Tally of Number of times Material Assets were mentioned by

Female Domestic Workers 52

Table 12: Tally of Number of times Relationships were mentioned by

Female Domestic Workers 53

Table 13: Employers’ Reasons for Employing Domestic Workers 67

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Introduction

1.1 The Problem

Female domestic workers face a double deficit, regarding recognition and rights, due to gender aspects and the informality associated with their employment.

To date, women are remaining underrepresented in both the formal and informal economy in Sri Lanka, though the latter does provide poor women with some working opportunities. According to a 2008 ILO Paper, women enter the informal economy because of their low education, limited capital, insufficient networks and because they need flexible work times to fulfil household and family responsibilities (Gunatilaka, 2008, p.32). A particular employment ‘prospect’ available to females is domestic work: this is one of the few jobs accessible to poor women where they are not in competition with males – as cleaning and cooking are considered a woman’s role (WIEGO, n. d.). However due to “a dearth of secondary data and information with regard to the domestic

workers in Sri Lanka” (Verité Research, 2015a, p. 3), the situation of this group is largely

unknown. While immigrant female domestic workers do receive much consideration in developmental studies literature, the situation of live-out workers in Sri Lanka is

virtually ignored.

1.2 1.2 Relevance

1.2.1 Practical Relevance

It is essential to explore experiences of domestic workers given their lack of legal rights and the insecurities and abuses this can lead to.

Sri Lanka has a significant number of domestic workers: with women making up 60,400 of the estimated 87,400 workers (Verité Research, 2015a). By working in the informal economy, many social protections are out of the domestic workers’ reach (Cassirer & Addati, 2007, p.4). While the fieldwork underlying this thesis was being conducted from June to September 2015, Samarath de Anbrew Supreme Court Judge of Sri Lanka faced charges for fracturing his domestic worker’s skull with a pistol and then raping her. This resulted in a petition that made the chilling suggestion that: “It is

quite likely that the only reason this came to light is because the domestic worker was attacked so badly that she had to be admitted into the emergency ward of the Government hospital”

(Domestic Worker Union, 2015,). This begs the questions of how many other abuses – including; verbal, physical, psychological and sexual – domestic workers face in the ‘safety’ of their employers’ homes. Unfortunately, policies pertaining to the rights of domestic workers in Sri Lanka are insufficient at best.

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1.2.2 Academic Relevance

The human rights and the legal approach have a monopoly in the current literature on domestic workers. In the human rights approach the worker’s experiences are assessed in negative terms by referring to denial of human rights (Sarveswaran, 2012). In the legal approach the workers are viewed as vulnerable and dependent on state action (Smales, 2010), thus the focus is on laws and regulations that cover domestic workers, particularly the absence of a legal contract. While these aspects are essential when assessing the women’s experiences, by emphasising the formal laws and rights these approaches do not take into account informal norms, codes of conduct and

relationships between domestic workers and their employers. For example, the female domestic workers’ views about their working conditions, relationships with the employer and freedom to alter their situation are often ignored.

This thesis attempts to fill two gaps in the literature: the under-exploration of female’s views on their situations and the lack of information available on live-out domestic workers. There is a pressing need to look at how employment influences the wellbeing of these women – and, therefore, their employment decisions –using these women’s cognitive understanding of empowerment (CEPA, 2015). This thesis utilises the Wellbeing Approach to exploration of how female’s wellbeing trade-offs are made: (i) between the different dimensions of wellbeing (material, relational, subjective), (ii) over time and (iii) between the individual and collective (e.g. family back home, community or household) (Pouw & McGregor, 2014).

1.2.3 Research Approach

This thesis is guided by the following research question: How does employment as

female domestic workers in Sri Lanka’s impact the wellbeing of these women and how are complex trade-offs in wellbeing made? The main focus is on live-out female

domestic workers in Colombo Sri Lanka, with female employers of domestic workers also receiving some attention as to explore the relationship between these two parties. A mix-method has been applied in this thesis: qualitative methods, such as interviews and focus groups, are supplemented by quantitative means: surveys as well as time and cash flow logs.

1.3 Outline of the Thesis

The exploration of the central research question follows in the next seven chapters. Chapter 2 provides an overview of the existing literature and explains the theoretical framework, which is a combination of Sen’s Capabilities Approach and the Wellbeing Approach. Chapter 3 presents all the research sub-questions, introduces the research respondents and explains the inductive mixed method approach that has been utilised. Chapter 4 provides essential information on the context of Sri Lanka and the rationale for using Colombo as a research location. Chapter 5 presents the research findings of the domestic workers living and financial situation and their employment conditions, paying close attention to the impact informality has on their wellbeing and their

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domestic workers and considers the trade-offs made between them. Chapter 7 explores the relationship between these workers and their employers, focusing on the power relationship and dependency that they create, as well as the impact they have on the employment decisions these women make. Chapter 8 answers the research question, reflects on the theory and research methodology applied and gives policy

recommendations and suggestions for further study. This thesis argues that live-out domestic workers can utilise their informality to make decisions in their employment and trade-offs in wellbeing that suit their priorities and values.

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Chapter 2 - Theoretical Framework

2.1 Introduction

This Chapter explains the theoretical framework utilised in this research. The aim is to demonstrate how this framework allows a thorough exploration of the domestic workers’ experiences and wellbeing. Firstly, the strengths and the shortcomings of the existing – human rights and legal – approaches are discussed in Section 2.2. Secondly, the two foundational theoretical approaches – the Wellbeing and the Capabilities Approach – are explained in Section 2.3. Thirdly, the concepts of instrumental freedoms, wellbeing, trade-offs and power are defined and applied to this study in Section 2.4. Fourthly, Section 2.5 presents a conceptual scheme as a guide to the data analysis chaptere, before concluding in Section 2.6.

2.2 Current Literature

When reviewing the literature on female domestic workers, it is clear that these women face a deficit in terms of rights, recognition and protection, that is attributable to their informal work and gender expectations. This section defines domestic work and briefly discusses the informal and gendered aspects associated with it; these are then connected to the legal and human rights approach.

2.2.1 Defining ‘Domestic work'

In this section, the term domestic work is defined and its nature and prevalence in Sri Lanka is presented.

The 2011 Domestic Worker Convention defines domestic work as work that takes place “in or for a household” (C189: Article 1, 2011). The tasks include cooking, cleaning, gardening, ironing, driving, and child as well as aged care (ILO n. d. {1}). A domestic worker performs these tasks with some regularity, “within an employment relationship” (C189: Article 1, 2011), which entails that the worker gets remittances for services rendered (ILO n. d. {3}). There are two main categories of workers: live-ins; those that reside in their employers’ house, and live-outs; those that do not live with their employers. The source of labour is another distinction: ‘migrant’ workers work in a foreign country, and ‘domestic’ workers work locally. A review of the literature, however, reveals that in application the domestic workers concept is often limited to female migrant live-in workers (see also: Gebre, 2012).

In 2007, 1 in every 13 women working in Sri Lanka was a domestic worker (Verité Research, 2015a). This high occurrence is shaped by pull and push factors (D’souza, 2010). While the former points to the demand, which is created through the

phenomena of more females working – which in turn means that these low paid workers have to fill the care facilities gap (Cassirer & Addati, 2007) and limited or inadequate welfare systems (D’souza, 2010). The latter refers to the supply end, which is influenced by poverty, limited opportunities and gender discrimination (ibid).

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2.2.2 Informal Labour

Domestic work is an informal labour opportunity that is carried out in the employer’s private home. Kevin Hart introduced the concept of informal work (Gerxhani, 2004) in the 1970s. Hart (1973) posited that individuals that were not formally employed were able to pursue self-employment through legitimate or illegitimate informal employment opportunities, outside permanent wage-earning employment. Given that domestic workers work in the private sphere, to them “labor is a social, not simply an economic

process”(Anderson, 2003, p.113). The workers are, therefore, “dependent on the good or bad will of their employer” (Budlender, 2010), as it is the employers’ behaviour that shapes

the relationship.A study on domestic workers in Turkey suggested that the flexibility was one reason for both employer and employees prefer to maintain informality (Erdoğdu & Toksöz. 2013). Domestic workers, however, do face denial of legal protections and human rights due to their informal employment. According to Kaur (2013, p.8) “The unprotected nature of the work renders them vulnerable to exploitation and

abuse”, which is exacerbated by “irregular and inconsistent wages, precarious job security, as well as an ever-extension of their responsibilities and duties” (p. 8).

2.2.2 Gender Issues

There are clear gendered aspects to domestic work that have a negative impact on the women dominating this sector (ITUC, 2010). The literature suggests the tasks

performed are ‘undervalued’ as they are associated with “women's unpaid duty in

marriage”, and mirror the tasks performed by slaves and servants in feudal systems

(Romero 1992 cited in Kaur, 2013). This negatively impacts the legal protections available to domestic workers (Mantouvalou, 2013). Additionally, women are very susceptible to verbal, sexual and physical, as they are employed in the privacy of their employers’ homes (D’Souza, 2010, p.17). In patriarchal societies, like Sri Lanka, cultural aspects influence the expectations placed on women. The literature suggests that in this context, the vulnerability these women face at work are also present in their own homes, as patriarchy shapes the household hierarchy (Vithanage, 2015). Gender is a fundamental element of both dominant approaches in domestic worker literature, and will thus be incorporated throughout.

2.2.3 The Legal Approach

The experiences of domestic workers have often been explored using a legal framework. According to Albin and Mantouvalou (2012) employment in the private sphere makes the workers ‘invisible’, making regulation and collective action difficult – a problem exacerbated by the lack of data on this group (Ramirez-Machado, 2003). This

‘invisibility’ leads to a lack of recognition (Employment and Social Protection, 2014) creating the ‘stigma’ that that domestic work is not actually ‘work’ (Mantouvalou, 2013) as it is equated with the “unpaid labour traditionally performed in the household by women” (ILO, 2010, Report IV-1, p.1). Mantouvalou (2012, argues that this ‘invisibility’ is connected to the workers’ ‘legislative precariousness’, which entailed the “explicit

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women, this has meant specific feminine issues, such as the guarantee of maternity leave, being absent in the laws.

The legal precariousness of worker has been primarily considered from a top-down approach – either on a global or a national level – focusing on laws and policies that could reduce this precariousness. For example, the International Labour Organisation has utilised this legal approach to emphasis the shortcomings of nations with a

significant domestic worker population, making recommendations for the

implementations of effective protections for these workers (ILO, 2012). The strength of this approach is that it highlights the problem of domestic workers being unprotected due to their exclusion from legal protections.

2.2.4 The Human Rights Approach

The human rights approach is the other predominant approach utilised when assessing the experiences of domestic workers. This approach rests on the assumption that all humans are entitled to “universal and inalienable” and “non-discriminating and equal” rights (HRBA Portal, 2015).

This approach is closely connected to the legal approach, as it also emphasises the invisibility of the workers and acknowledges that the informal nature of domestic work increases vulnerabilities (Ruwanpura, 2004). Mantouvalou (2012) argues that

precariousness and human rights are connected, albeit that the human rights approach

“does not capture all non-standard employment”(p.136). However, unlike the legal approach,

this approach places greater focus on the experiences of women regarding their rights; using top-down criterion in an applied manner. Here, the fact that these women are

“vulnerable to abuse and exploitation” (D’Souza, 2010, p.17) are explored in terms of right

deprivations. Most of the qualitative studies produced on domestic worker are framed in a human rights approach. The strength of this approach is that they use the

international standards of human rights and apply it to individual cases of women, highlighting the abuses they face.

2.2.5 Reflecting on the Dominant Approaches

Both approaches portray domestic workers as “one of the most vulnerable workers in the

world, being often the targets of physical and sexual abuse and experiencing discrimination and marginalization with regard to pay, working conditions and legal rights” (Gebre, 2012, p. viii).

Both perspectives accurately point to the issue that female domestic workers are excluded and marginalised concerning labour laws (Marcadent, 2013). However, portraying these workers in negative terms, based on the top-down criteria of legal protection or human rights, tends to disempower them as research subjects, as agency is not viewed from their perception.

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2.3 The Capability and Wellbeing Approach

This section explains how the Capabilities and Wellbeing Approach have been used as a lens to analyse the wellbeing of female domestic workers in an inductive manner. 2.3.1 The Capabilities Approach

The Capabilities Approach was developed by Amartya Sen to re-conceptualise

development from economic centred to human wellbeing centred (Den Braber, 2013). Capabilities refer to people’s ability and, therefore, their agency, to “lead the kind of lives

they value – and have reason to value” (Sen, 1999, p.18). It is constructed through a set of

functionings – constitutive of the ‘beings and doings’ of an individual – which influence a person’s freedoms and the life they live (Sen, 1992). According to Sen development should thus be viewed “as a process of expanding the real freedoms that people

enjoy” (Sen, 1999, p.3), as opposed to money-centric.

The Capability Approach has been extensively applied to the study of development. It has contributed to the social sciences in four ways (Deneulin & McGregor, 2010): (1) humans have been placed at the centre of policy focus (2) the freedom to make decisions is regarded as a pinnacle of human dignity (3) ethics have re-emerged as important in policy making (4) the approach is flexible in its application to different circumstances, as Sen refused to compose a fixed list of capabilities– arguing that different context and individuals warrant a different list (Clark, 2005). Human development has thus been established as a multidimensional approach; whereby a holistic aspect of development is considered from a multidisciplinary background (Deneulin & Shahani, 2009).

The Capabilities Approach has had a clear impact on women’s issues. Its general framework has allowed the contemplation of female concerns beyond financial welfare, such as education, political participation, reproductive health and violence (Robeyns, 2003). Nussbaum’s capability list, which establishes inextricable capabilities that should be universally applied to assess people’s situation, derives directly from Sen’s work. Nussbaum (2001) has argued that for justice to occur this basic minimum should be there, particularly for vulnerable women. The Capabilities Approach will be utilised to explore the impact of instrumental freedoms have on the female domestic worker’s agency and decision-making.

2.3.2 The Wellbeing Approach

The Wellbeing Approach has taken the notion of capabilities further by defining the individual as a social human being, who relates to others in trying to achieve wellbeing. White (2009, p 3-4) has connected this approach to many other human development approaches, arguing that: just like the livelihood approach it is agent-focused and it adheres to Sen’s argument that quality of life is determined by the things people have. The aim of the Wellbeing Approach is to create a better understanding of the

complexities of poverty, by combining both the “‘objective’ circumstances of a person and

their ‘subjective’ perception of their condition”(McGregor, 2006, p. 3). To move beyond the

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wellbeing is used; encompassing subjective, relational and material wellbeing (McGregor & Summer, 2009).

The Wellbeing Approach has since been applied to rethink economics, through a reorientation on human wellbeing (Pouw & McGregor, 2014). This marks a move away from the income centred and welfare focused nature of previous economic approaches. The epistemological view is that the market economy is a social phenomenon (Pouw, 2015), considering the relationship between its economic agents. This redefinition of the economy is important since “the work relations in these occupations (domestic work)

cannot purely be captured in economic terms, as a considerable amount of subjectivity and personal dealings define the employment relations” (Neetha, 2009, p.497). Since the domestic

workers' employment influences much of their lives, this more complex view of their engagement and relations in the informal economy will be utilised.

2.3.3 Incorporating both Approaches

This thesis incorporates both these approaches. The Wellbeing Approach will be used to gather an understanding of their perceptions and trade-offs of wellbeing, using the three-dimensional approach. This research subscribes to Sen’s argument that the Capabilities Approach can cover a broad scope regarding the role played by a variety of different; actors, “social values and prevailing mores, which can influence the freedoms that

people enjoy and have reason to treasure” (1999, p.9). The impact of Sri Lanka’s structural

and societal context – is, therefore, explored using the Capability Approach’s

instrumental freedoms. Since many of the ‘unfreedoms’, which these women face, are top-down constraints; policies, laws and societal attitudes will be considered.

Additionally, Narayan’s (2000) three types of power will be incorporated to analyse the power dynamics in this relational approach.

2.4 Key Concepts

2.4.1 Instrumental Freedoms Freedoms

Freedom is portrayed as being essential when considering the human wellbeing of individuals, in terms of development, for evaluative and effectiveness reasons (Sen, 1999, Chapter 1). It is thus both an ends and means of development. The latter refers to instrumental freedoms, of which there are five categories: political freedoms,

economic facilities, social opportunity, transparency guarantees and protective security. According to Sen capabilities, and functioning, are influenced by these instrumental freedoms (Sen, 1999), which in combination affect the situation of the individual. Due to the purpose and scope of this research, the three most applicable instrumental freedoms – protective securities, economic facilities and social opportunity– will be used to contextualise the situations of the domestic workers.

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Agency

As mentioned, the concept of agency is inextricably linked to an individual’s capabilities. Sen defines an agent as “someone who acts and brings about change” (Sen, 1999, p19). The extent to which these women have free agency to make decisions governing their lives – an aspect not implicit in the Wellbeing Approach – is viewed as essential in this research. Agency is a complex term, with five important elements (Deneulin & Shani, 2009, based on Sen 1985); 1) it is the pursuing of a life the individual values; 2) it can include the collective agency; 3) while it can be used to improve wellbeing, it can focus on other priorities, like collective wellbeing; 4) the actions need to be somewhat reasonable; 5) and it entails the ability to exert some control over the situation. The first and third elements are particularly relevant in exploration of the wellbeing, trade-offs and employment decisions the female domestic workers make. The capacity to act and exercise agency will be considered, in

combination with Narayan’s (2000) exploration of power, when exploring the employment relationship.

Social Opportunity

Social opportunity is a broad concept that refers to arrangements by society that: influence an individual’s instrumental freedoms, shaping their constraints and

opportunities, therefore influencing their capacity to act (Sen, 1999). Sen (1999, p.11) argues that social opportunities are a prerequisite in order for people to exercise their agency, allowing them to be proactive agents, as opposed to passive recipients.

Specifically, social opportunity refers to “the arrangements that society makes for education,

health care and so on, which influence the individuals substantive freedom to live better” (Sen,

1999, p.39). The implication of this is that governments should not rely on a free market instead public policy needs to cater for these needs (Duhs, 2008). These social opportunities effect both the private and public life of the women in question, as they determine the effectiveness of participation, for instance in the economic realm. Social opportunity, particular education and health, will be used in this research to

demonstrate the arrangements available to the domestic workers, and their impact on these women’s employment decisions.

Economic Facilities

Economic facilities focus on the capabilities pertaining to the economic sphere,

particularly employment. They are defined as the “opportunities that individuals respectively

enjoy to utilise economic resources for the purpose of consumption, or production or

exchange”(Sen, 1999, p.38-39). One aspect of this instrument is the adequacy of the

income an individual receives: both in relative and absolute terms. This influences the ability of the household to manage their expenses, to make purchases and to save. Another core component of economic facilities is freedom: from the decision to work to the absence of forced labour (Removing Unfreedoms, 2006). In the current

literature associated with domestic work, the lack of economic freedom is emphasised. Though domestic work presents itself as an opportunity for income, it can be

accompanied with “forced labour, sexual abuse and harassment” (Sarveswaran, 2012, p141). Forced labour is a major problem for live-in workers, as it is used as a ‘means of

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coercion’ to stop the workers from ending their employment (ILO, 2013). The

literature also emphasised the possibility of economic exploitation through irregular or reduced salary payments, justified by employers due to good working conditions or non-monetary payouts (Ruwanpura, 2004). Economic facilities will be used to explore the freedom the women have in their employment choices: namely locating and terminating employment. Additionally, this freedom is considered when exploring the impact the women’s income has on their consumption and satisfaction level.

Protective Securities

Protective securities refer to “a social safety net for preventing the affected population from

being reduced to abject misery” (Sen, 1999, p.40). According to Sen (1999), there are two

types: fixed institutional arrangements and ad-hoc arrangements. The former refers to official laws and policies that protect people’s rights while the latter refers to informal avenues available to individuals to attempt to improve their quality of life.

Unfortunately, domestic worker’s ‘legalistative precariousness’ (Mantouvalou, 2012) is often justified by policy makers due to the employment occurring in the employer’s home and the associated ‘intimacy’ that results from this personalised nature of work. However, since the employer and employee status differ considerably; this sense of intimacy is false (Albin & Mantouvalou, 2012), and can in fact hide inequalities (Miles, 2000). Working in the private sphere of their employer also reduces their ability to participate in collective action, through engines like trade unions. Thus, the relative powerlessness of the workers in comparison to their employers is increased by this difficulties of coordinating effectively, meaning that “collective bargaining and social

dialogue are therefore often absent” (ILO, 2013, p.44).

Both fixed institutional and ad-hoc arrangements will be explored in this research. The fixed institutional arrangements explored in this research are the current legal

protections in place; Sri Lanka is not a signatory of the Domestic Worker’s Convention (c189), which together with out-dated and inadequate laws means that domestic

workers lack basic protections. Regarding the ad-hoc arrangements, it will be considered how workers use informal avenues to negotiate their work conditions, particularly through their interactions with their female employer. Since there is a dual relationship between policy and capabilities, as using capabilities effectively can lead to more beneficial policies while better policies can also improve capabilities (Sen, 1999), this research will make policy recommendations based on the women’s suggestions and needs.

2.4.2 Wellbeing

The term wellbeing is contentious, and given the centrality of this concept to this research, it will be clearly defined. As accurately portrayed in the Stiglitz Report (2010, p, 14) wellbeing is a multi-dimensional concept, as opposed to being a synonym for ‘happiness’. The authors recommend the following categories: material living standard, health, education, personal activities including work, political voice and governance, social connections and relationships, environment and insecurity (Stiglitz et al. 2010). These categories can also be incorporated using the well-being approach, which

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Figure 1: The Three Dimensions of Wellbeing

Source: Pouw & McGregor (2014)

essentially considers both subjective and objective elements as wellbeing (a criterion stressed in the Stiglitz Report).

The Wellbeing Approach defines wellbeing as “a state of being with others, where human

needs are met, where one can act meaningfully to pursue one’s goals, and where one enjoys a satisfactory quality of life” (ESRC, 2007, Research Statement). This definition, which is

closely related to the ideas evident in the Capability Approach, is adopted in this research. The Wellbeing Approach helps “explain the ‘how’ and ‘why’ behind the

phenomena observed” (Pouw & McGregor, 2014, p.10), considering the impact an

individual’s situation, culture and context have on people’s priorities. This is essential for this research as the aim is to understand how they determine their life satisfaction (Pouw, 2015:6) and trade-offs.

There are three aspects of wellbeing: subjective, material, and relational. While the theory presents them as three different aspects that overlap to create a person’s wellbeing (Figure 1), this research considers subjective wellbeing to be present in all wellbeing dimensions. A detailed overview on the conceptualization of these three concepts of wellbeing in relation to the assessment of the wellbeing of female domestic workers in Sri Lanka is provided below.

Subjective Wellbeing

Subjective wellbeing “recognises that the quality of the material and relational achievements

are then translated into a person’s subjective evaluation of their quality of life” (Pouw &

McGregor 2014). The female domestic workers subjective wellbeing relates to their economic situation; satisfaction levels with their income and ability to manage

expenses, and their working conditions; the relationships they have with their madam and their work arrangements. Additionally due to the Asian culture, where the responsibility to the household is a value engrained in individuals, their subjective wellbeing is also determined by their household situation; namely, the health and happiness of their family members. Morrows (1989, p.277) argues that in the Southeast

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countries egotistical behaviour is discouraged, and individuals are taught to “think of the

family first and must learn to subjugate personal desires and concerns”. Women, in particular,

have an important role to play as ‘home-makers’ and are very influential on the wellbeing of their family members (Narayan et al. 2000). Consequently, their lives are

“deeply embedded in the household and the family” (Rao, 1990, p.93).

One barrier to bear in mind is that these women’s responsibilities might impede their cognitive decisions. Their cognitive facilities might not have been completely

developed, due to what Nussbaum (2002) calls the ‘double day’; whereby women work and are expected to take care of the household. Societal attitudes and cultural

expectations, as the constructivist approach argues (Mehay, 2012), might also influence their perceptions of self. Given the importance of the cognitive aspects of wellbeing it will be explored throughout all the key concepts of the research: from freedoms and capability act to material and relational wellbeing. The women’s decisions and trade-offs made are influenced by their subjective wellbeing, which is impacted by these cultural expectations.

Material Wellbeing

According to Pouw and McGregor (2014), material wellbeing “resonates with the narrower

definition of welfare by looking at material determinants of quality of life”(p.16). The 2013

OECD Report identifies three categories: income and wealth, jobs and earnings, and housing. For the purpose of this research, material wellbeing is considered in terms of income, consumption and shelter. Though wealth is recommended as a more stable measure than income, it is impractical for this research since the respondents lack material possessions and liquid assets. What is measurable is their consumption capacity. Since Sri Lankan domestic workers are denied the guarantee of a minimum wage and basic benefits, their total income will be considered carefully. This research will also connect material wellbeing to economic facilities to look at opportunities for saving and pursuing other careers. The benefit of using the Wellbeing Approach is that non-monetary aspects, like relationships, are also considered when measuring the sources and resources women can draw on (McGregor, 2006). Additionally, money can have spillover effects, and can, for instance, shape family dynamics. A Nepalese study on household decisions found that being employed had a positive impact on women decision-making; as it reduces their dependence on their husbands, develops their thinking and gives them the means to make financial decisions (Acharya et al, 2010).

Relational Wellbeing

Relational wellbeing refers to “people’s quality of life in respect to the relationships that are

important for them in their social and physical environment” (Pouw and McGregor, 2014,

p.16). Because the female domestic worker’s workplace is their employer’s house, and thus the latter’s private sphere, power relationships are likely to be even more

unbalanced compared to other forms of employment (Budlender, 2010). Thus, the relationship between female domestic workers and female employers is a central part of this research. Other aspects that will be looked at are: how free time is spent and how they feel they are perceived in society. The latter refers to whether their profession is

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the way they are treated. To determine whether domestic work does indeed continue to be discounted and ‘undervalued’ (Smales, 2010; Tous et al. 2013; Albin &

Mantouvalou, 2012), society’s views about their profession and their employer’s treatment of them will be explored. As mentioned, there also exists the relationship between these women and their families – a bond that is also explored in light of the cultural context.

2.4.3 Trade-offs

The complexities of trade-offs, whereby individuals take actions or decisions in order to prioritise certain aspects of wellbeing, will be explored. Economic agents are viewed very differently in this approach, compared to the neoliberal understanding of a rational actor. Instead economic agency is presented as “the capacity to solve a human

wellbeing problem” (Pouw & McGregor, 2014, p.15).

The importance of a “telos of living well”, is re-conceptualised in the Wellbeing Approach to a “telos of living well together” (Deneulin & McGregor, 2010). This thus introduces the idea of trade-offs between individual and collective wellbeing. The possibility of a domestic worker giving up parts of her own wellbeing for her family represents a prioritizing of the collective. Pouw and McGregor (2015) identify two other forms of trade-offs: between the different dimensions, and trade-offs over time. In the case of the domestic worker, this might mean: being faced with only negative trade-offs or having a lack of freedom or sacrificing current wellbeing for future wellbeing by saving rather than spending money.

To analyse these trade-offs their purposeful decision-making is acknowledged. This capacity to act and pursue their priorities demonstrates utilisation of agency: an aspect that will be considered in association with the workers’ informality. According to Pouw & McGregor (2014), this decision-making is influenced by determinants like their gender, culture, class and ethnicity. Thus, this research will focus on the way female domestic workers and to a lesser extent, the employers assign value and meaning to their life and how this determines their trade-offs and thus their human wellbeing. 2.4.3 Power Relations

Since this research focuses on the relational wellbeing of domestic workers, the power dynamics present in their relationship with their employers need to be considered. Power is a complex concept that has evolved over time. Dhal argues that “power is a

relation, and that it is a relation among people” (1957, p. 203), according to him this entails

that “A has power over B to the extent that he can get B to do something that B would not

otherwise do”(Dhal, 1957, 202-203). Since then, many authors have expanded to this

definition, focusing on power in relational terms, particularly in a political setting. Lukes (1974) argued that there were three dimensions of power; 1) the ability to prevail in direct conflict (drawing on Dhal, 1957) 2) the ability to influence the agenda

(drawing on Bachrach & Baratz, 1962) 3) and 3) the ability to control an outcome through implicit means.

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Narayan’s (2000) outlines three useful categories of relational power. She draws on Lukes’ (1974) division of power to categorise power as power over and power to. The former refers to “control over people and resources” (Narayan, 2000, p. 131), and can be both ‘good’ and ‘bad’ for either the individual or group the power is exercised over. The latter refers to a person’s ability to “act on their own behalf” using their confidence, resources and abilities to improve their family’s and their own wellbeing (p.132). Based on her research with poor women in many contexts she argues that ‘power with’ is another important category. In this third category, power comes from external sources, through “associating with others, both within the family and in groups”(131).

It is important to note the gender dimension present in power relationships. While the position of women in society has improved over time, males remain the dominant group (Robinson et al, 2015), with even developed nations continuing to have significant pay gaps for the same work performed. In traditional societies, this power imbalance is reinforced by gender roles (Unite for Cite, 2015), which can negatively impact women’s wellbeing.

In this research, power is considered in terms of the women’s ability to exercise their capabilities and make trade-offs through decision-making in their employment sphere. The impact roles and expectations of women have on their capabilities will also be considered. However, the main focus is on the power dynamics present in the relationship between female domestic workers and their female madams. 2.5 Conceptual Scheme

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The Conceptual Scheme pictured in Figure 2 incorporates the main theories, concepts, and units of analysis of the research. It can be divided into three sections, which correspond to the three data chapters. The top of the scheme presents three of Sen’s (1999) instrumental freedoms, and highlights related aspects that will be considered. Chapter 5 will explore how these freedoms shape the context of these women, and influence their agency and choices. According to the literature (Kaur, 2013 and Albin & Mantouvalou, 2012), informality can also play a significant role in determining the situation of these women. The primary focus is the three types of wellbeing trade-offs female domestic workers make (to be explored in Chapter 6), listed on the left. The Venn diagram (adapted from Pouw and McGreggor, 2014), demonstrate the

relationship between the three dimensions of wellbeing, which can be influenced by determinants such as culture, gender and context. Lastly, power dynamics are

considered, particularly regarding the employment relationship between employer and employee. This will be done in Chapter 7 using Narayan’s (2000) three types of power that are listed.

2.6 Conclusion

This chapter has reviewed the literature and explained this research’s departure point, primarily the combination of the wellbeing and the capability approach. The rationale behind this is to explore the experiences of the domestic workers using a bottom-up approach. While the human rights and legal approaches have definite strengths, which will be incorporated in this research, their focus on the women in terms of deprivation is only part of the story. Using the key concepts of instrumental freedoms, wellbeing and trade-offs this research will explore both the vulnerabilities and agency of these women in interactions with their employers. The Conceptual Scheme has

demonstrated how each of these concepts and relationships will be applied to the analysis.

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3 Methodology & Research Methods

This chapter explains the research methodology that has been utilised in this research. In Sections 3.2 and 3.3, guiding aspects of this research, namely the research questions and the application of the constructivist approach are outlined. Next, Section 3.4 explains how and why the respondents were selected. Section 3.4 gives an overview of the mixed methodology used, incorporating an assessment of the scope and limitations of the research focus. Lastly, in Section 3.6 the research’s validity and reliability are considered.

3.2 Research Questions

The primary research question is: How does employment as female domestic workers

in Sri Lanka’s impact the wellbeing of these women and how are complex trade-offs in wellbeing made? Three sub-questions have been formulated to explore essential

elements of the main question. Each of the data analysis chapters will address one of these questions:

1. How do domestic workers perceive their situation and do instrumental freedoms contribute to this?

2. How are trade-offs between different dimensions of wellbeing made by the domestic workers (individual vs. collective; and over time)?

3. What are the dynamics of the relationship between employers and the female domestic workers, and how does this impact decisions made?

3.3 Epistemology & Ontology

This research will utilise the relativist ontology to explore the domestic workers’ perceptions regarding their wellbeing and trade-offs. This ontology argues that an external world exists; however, reality is determined by people’s interpretation of it, their relational experiences of the social world and their context (Mehay, 2012).

Subsequently, there is no ultimate truth: instead, there are many subjective truths based on these different experiences of realities.

The methodology is influenced by, though not constrained to, the constructivist approach. According to Vincent Pouliot (2007), adopting the constructivist approach has three methodological implications, which this research meets. Firstly, since reality is socially constructed the research should be inductive, starting with individuals. This research has focused on the information provided by the women domestic workers. Secondly, the research aim should be one of interpretation; whereby knowledge should be drawn from emerging concepts, such as ‘helplessness’. Great emphasis was placed on the hermeneutics and the concepts prioritised by the respondents (as recommended by Schütz, 1976), which were then interpreted through the lens of the Wellbeing

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applied, as people’s interactions and experiences are shaped by history. This research has considered the wellbeing of women over time and acknowledged the time bound nature of their situations.

3.4 Research respondents

The primary group of respondents were female live-out domestic workers since this research explores their wellbeing. The research focused primarily on the 20 women who participated in in-depth interviews and demographic surveys. Of these women, some also filled out the cash flow and were a part of the focus groups. These latter methods were also used on women who were not interviewed, making up a total of 34

respondents. This group was chosen due to their absence in current literature. This decision proved to be a fruitful one, as the women expressed themselves freely and compared their experiences in their household to the ones they were employed in. This would not have been possible with live-in workers, as they reside in their employers house and are thus under their employer’s control, making it unlikely that they would be able to express themselves openly.

A secondary group of respondents were the ten female employers, or ‘madams’, of live-out workers. The group was chosen because their experiences and perceptions are essential in regard to their relationship with the domestic workers. Only women were interviewed because most domestic workers deal with the female head of the

household. Since looking at both groups was necessary for my research, I decided to do so in a non-parallel manner. This means that though interviews took place with both female employers and workers, these groups were not connected to each other. A limitation of this is that a comparison of their ‘relationship’ is more hypothetical, as opposed to what would have been possible if a parallel approach was used. However since the themes both groups brought up were compatible their findings have been combined in the explorative Chapter 7. Furthermore, this separation probably encouraged the parties to be more honest.

Snowballing was used as a means to get the necessary respondents. I was fortunate to have a contact of a gatekeeper – a domestic worker that used to reside in of one of the slum the research took place – who introduced me to the neighbourhood and vouched for my research. Though I knew no one from the other slum, people were keen to help me. I reached out to the contacts I established in my stay in Sri Lanka in order to find employers that met my criteria. I was also able to meet with experts from the think-thank Verité Research and attend a conference run by them on domestic workers in Sri Lanka.

3.5 Methods

A mixed-methods approach was used when exploring the experiences of these domestic workers and to a lesser extent the employers. This approach was adopted to capture in a more accurately manner the holistic situation of the domestic workers. Given the constructivist underpinnings of this research, the main methods used are qualitative in nature; namely, interviews and focus groups. Quantitative methods – including surveys, time logs and cash flow logs – were collected to play a supplementary role. Since my

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assistant translated the domestic worker interviews from Sinhala to English, and back again, establishing trust was essential. To build trust with the workers, multiple visits were made to their homes, with progressively more complex and time-consuming tasks: the methods are presented in this lineal order.

The first phase centred on establishing contact with the domestic workers and gauging their willingness to be part of my research. Upon first visiting the two slums

introductions were made, so that the women would be familiar with my research and me. The women were asked to fill out a short demographics survey that asked simple questions (Appendix 2) about their work and home life.

The second phase consisted of getting to know these women better through 20 in-depth interviews, which each lasted about two hours. Semi-structured interviews were used so as to give the women flexibility of responses while still ensuring that aspects pertaining to wellbeing were covered. The women were told that their stories were of great interest to the research – this made the interviews less formal and more personal. The women were probed on their life histories and their employment relationship. While it was not possible to be a participant observer at the workers’ workplaces, the workers interactions with their family members and the chores they performed were noted during the interviews.

The third phase involved collecting secondary data in the form of the cash flows and time logs, twenty-one a piece (eight of the respondents had already been interviewed, the others were part of the focus groups). At this point, most women had seen my assistant and me at least two times, which allowed more invasive data to be collected. The cash flow logs (Appendix 3) asked the women to make a note of all their income and expenses over a month and to indicate information about their household members (age, gender and employment status). The time logs (Appendix 4) asked women to colour in clocks (using six pre-determined category colours) to indicate how they spent their time. After an unsuccessful attempt at getting these women to fill out the forms themselves over a week (due to difficulties doing so, or a lack of time), the forms were administered by my assistant and filled out based on the previous week. The fourth phase was consolidation through focus groups. Bryman (2012) suggests that focus groups be made up of 4-6 directly involved members. Three focus groups were conducted with 5-6 female domestic workers women, one of which is pictured in Image 1. Some of the questions covered in the interviews were posed again to see if the

responses differed. Additionally, the women were asked to come up with recommendations for change as a group.

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The collection of information from employers was straightforward as all data was gathered in one meeting. A total of ten employers were interviewed in English in their homes. This allowed for observations to be made of the interaction between the employers and their workers. The interviews were also semi-structured and were in-depth. At the conclusion of the interview, the employers filled out a short survey (Appendix 5) asking simple information about their employees.

3.5.1 Scope and Limitations

Since this research has a very clear focus on female domestic live-out workers located in Rajagiriya, Colombo three groups of domestic workers fall outside its scope. Firstly, those workers working in other areas of Sri Lanka and overseas are not represented. Secondly, as mentioned many workers become live-ins – by excluding this category, the complexities of those women coming from the tea estates for work is not captured. Lastly, there is a substantial amount of male domestic workers in Sri Lanka (particularly drivers and guards), who fall outside this research’s scope. However, given the

constraints of a thesis and the constructivist, inductive approach that has been adopted I argue that such a clear focus is warranted, particularly as the group in focus has not received much recognition in the literature to date.

There are of course limitations connected with the target group that are uncontrollable. This research captures the women’s wellbeing situation at the time interviewed. Given the uncertainty of their employment and volatility of their lives, to accurately measure their situations requires constant monitoring – which the time constraints of this project did not allow. The period this research took place was not ideal, as it coincided with the lead up to the elections. This might have altered the information shared and the extent of the problems communicated. Another reason for this possible occurring is that most interviews took place in the presence of family member – particularly;

daughter-in-laws, little children or their husbands – which might have impacted their discussion on their household’s dynamics. While there is the possibility that the

Image 1: Domestic Worker Focus Group

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participants lied (Bleek, 1987), I hope to have overcome this by having built up trust with them over the various phases of my research.

3.6 Evaluation of the Qualitative Data

Validity is an important criterion for assessing the qualitative data used, given that the constructivist approach has been adopted. The coherence of the research design and research aims, in combination with the literature triangulation used, has strengthened this research’s internal validity. However, as much of the reasoning is open to

interpretation it is possible for others to draw different conclusions. Given the sources and research design used, the external validity is limited to live-in domestics in Sri Lanka and, therefore, it is non-generalizable. This, I would argue, is a good thing: as there is a literature gap pertaining to these workers.

This study has taken precautions to ensure both external and internal reliability. Having the researcher and the translator discuss and compare observations ensured internal reliability. While the findings might not be generalizable, this study is replicable. This transferability is aided by that fact that the thick descriptions were given, and the findings were considered in the context they occurred. This would, therefore, allow for cross-context comparisons. The dependability of this research has been reinforced by the transparency regarding the respondents and issues faced, mentioned in the limitation section.

Given that this research aims to give a voice to the respondents, it has attempted to meet the criteria of authenticity. This has been aided through the credibility of the findings, as the multi-phase data collection fostered familiarity about the respondents and their situations, strengthened by the trust established. Hence, it is more likely that the information presented here reflects reality, as the women felt comfortable to share intimate and private stories and feelings. The stories were then used to create emerging codes, which in turn shaped the wording and the line of argument developed.

3.7 Conclusion

This chapter has explained how the research respondents were chosen, located and engaged in the research. The rationale for focusing on live-out domestic workers – a group that has not received much attention in literature thus far – is that their work arrangement provides them with multiple trade-off options, as their time is split between the household they are employed for and their own. Given the constructivist underpinnings of this research, an inductive approach is used; drawing on mixed methods of data collection. It has been argued here that the multi-stage data collection is a major asset that improves the quality and reliability of the findings.

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4 Empirical Context

The purpose of this Empirical Context Chapter is three fold. Firstly, Section 4.2 provides a brief insight on the political, economic and social context of Sri Lanka. Secondly, Section 4.3 gives a background on domestic workers in Sri Lanka. Lastly, Section 4.5 describes the location where the research took place.

4. Sri Lanka: Political, Economic & Social Characteristics of Sri Lanka 4.2.1 Political Characteristics

Sri Lanka is a nation island located in the Indian Ocean, off the Southeast Coast of India, with a diverse population and a loaded history. Despite being only 65,610 km2_, Sri Lanka has a population of 20.48 million (World Bank, 2013), which is

multicultural in nature: consisting of a variety of ethnic groups and religions. The national flag – pictured in Image 2 – represents the main ethnicity groups: Sinhala (the yellow lion), Tamils (the orange stripe) and Moors (the green stripe).

The country has a complex past. The Dutch, Portuguese and British have all ruled parts of Sri Lanka from the 16th_{century onwards. After 134 years (from 1815-1948) of being} colonised by the British, Sri Lanka was granted independence. However the ‘divide and rule’ policies implemented by the British, which favoured the Tamils, exacerbated ethnic tensions between the Sinhalese majority and the Tamil minority (Mushtaq, 2012). Following independence, these tensions grew as the Sinhalese reversed these policies. These tensions eventually escalated to a 25-year civil war. Sri Lanka is now a post-conflict country, as the conflict officially ended in May 2009.

Image 2: The Sri Lankan Flag

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4.2.2 Economic Characteristics

Sri Lanka is a lower middle-income nation. Sri Lanka’s GDP of $US67.13 million (World Bank, 2013) can however be misleading and hide trends and inequalities. Females remain underrepresented in the workforce. As Table 1 demonstrates they make up only 35.5% of the total economically active population, while making up a resounding 74.6% of the total unemployed population (Department of Census and Statistics, 2014). Note that these are estimated based on the amount of people who stated they were employed during the period the survey was taken.

An essential characteristic of the Sri Lankan economy is that the informal sector is a key contributor to employment. The informal economy employs 60.8% of the total employed population: employing 48.2% of those employed the non-agricultural sector and 86.8% in the agricultural sector (Herath n. d.). As Figure 3 demonstrates, both males and females have a higher percentage of their working population in the informal sector: 63.5% and 55.6% respectively (ibid).

Contributions in the informal sector often go unrecorded and, therefore, those informally employed, like domestic workers, are outside the scope of most legal

protection. Moreover, working as domestic workers, given their informality, comes with

63.5 _55.6 36.5 _44.4 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% male female informal formal

Total Male Female

Number % Number % Economically Active Population 8,769,538 5,655,705 64.5 3,113,833 35.5 Economically Inactive Population 7,650,010 1,946,588 25.4 5,703,422 74.6

Table 1: A Gendered Division of the Economically Active & Inactive Population

Source: Department of Census and Statistics, 2014

Figure 3: A Percentage of Males and Females employed in Informal and Formal Economy

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many uncertainties; as there is no job security nor is there a guarantee of an income (Arunatilake and Jayawardena, 2010).

4.2.3 Social Characteristics

This section considers the gender inequalities evident in Sri Lanka, primarily through the criteria of the Social Institutional Gender Index (SIGIa). This index measures the level of discrimination that women face, ranking each category on a scale from 0 (very low discrimination) to 1 (very high discrimination) and then compiling them to form an overall score. According to the Social Institutional Gender Index (SIGI, 2015b), Sri Lanka is a medium discrimination country. This corresponds with the relatively high Gender Inequality (based on inequality in the areas of health, empowerment and employment) rating of 0.37. Sri Lanka’s Gender Development Index, however – which is based on the comparison of female and males’: length and quality of life, knowledge and standard of living – is more promising at 0.948 (with 1 representing equal

development levels).

As the Figure 4 demonstrates, Sri Lanka falls under high discrimination in three categories of the five SIGI indicators. Two of the categories pertain to decision-making: ‘family code’ considers women’s status and say in their household, while ‘restricted resource and assets’ refers to access and control women have over assets, including money and land. The normalcy of patriarchy in Sri Lankan means that men are traditionally the main decision makers, while women are expected to fulfil the household role (Vithanage, 2015). The other high discrimination category is ‘civil liberties’, which refers to women’s political participation opportunities. As explained, the lack of rights and the inability to utilise collective action are commonplace in domestic work (see also: ILO, 2013).

While the SIG Index paints a concerning picture of the barriers to female agency and capabilities, Sri Lanka also has positive performances in other areas. For example, Sri Lanka is one of the first Asian nations to provide two essential arrangements: universal healthcare and free education (Samarage, 2006), the latter is guaranteed in the Sri Lankan Constitution (1978). These two elements of social opportunities are considered in relation to domestic work in Section 5.4.

Category Value Discriminations

Family Code 0.4203 High Physical integrity 0.2681 Medium Son Bias 0.1483 Medium Resources 0.6207 High Civil liberties 0.5399 High OVERALL 0.1894 MEDIUM Source: SIGI (2015b)

Exploring the impact employment as a domestic worker has on women's wellbeing and related trade-offs : a study of female live-out domestic workers in Colombo, Sri Lanka

EXPLORING THE IMPACT EMPLOYMENT AS

A DOMESTIC WORKER HAS ON WOMEN’S

WELLBEING AND RELATED TRADE-OFFS

A study of Female Live-out Domestic Workers in Colombo, Sri Lanka

Mystique Nelis

M.Sc. International Development Studies

Graduate School of Social Sciences

University of Amsterdam

Master’s Thesis

Exploring the Impact Employment as a Domestic Worker has

on Women’s Wellbeing and Related Wellbeing

A study of Female Live-out Domestic Workers in Colombo, Sri Lanka

In Collaboration with:

Abstract

Table of Contents

Lists of Figures, Maps, Images and Tables

Introduction

Chapter 2 - Theoretical Framework

3 Methodology & Research Methods

4 Empirical Context