Life as a Child Domestic Worker in Haiti

Anne Hatløy of the Fafo Institute for Applied International Studies in Norway published this article in the Journal of Haitian Studies, volume 11, number 1 (2005). It uses data from the Haiti Living Conditions Survey, fieldwork carried out in 2001 by the Institut Haïtien de Statistique et d'Informatique (IHSI), to compare the living standards of child domestic workers with those of children living with their parents and children living away from them who do not work as domestics.

About 9.8% of children aged 5 to 18 do not live with their parents, lack sufficient education and have a heavy workload, which defines child domestic workers in the study. The prevalence of child domestic workers rises among girls older than ten, and 16 to 17% of girls aged 11 to 18 work as child domestics. The study concludes that the physical living conditions of child domestic workers are not worse than those of other children in Haiti, and that actions on physical punishment and meals should target all children. An editor's note adds that the data do not include information collected from the children themselves.