El cuidado como trabajo: Perfiles laborales de las trabajadoras remuneradas del hogar en la ciudad de Cuenca, Ecuador

Abstract

Traditional studies of economics have left out those fundamental tasks for life that have historically been assumed by women, such as caregiving, because they are considered to lack productive value. One of the results of the invisibilization and undervaluation of care work is the lack of social and economic recognition of caregivers, such as paid domestic workers. The present research aims to analyze the different profiles of paid domestic workers in the city of Cuenca, problematizing the nature of domestic work and their working conditions. A qualitative

approach is used, based on critical ethnographies of participatory action. Surveys, semi- structured interviews, non-participant observation processes and relief maps are used to

characterize the profiles of the workers and to explore their working conditions. An action phase is included with participatory workshops aimed at identifying key elements for a proposal of local organization of paid domestic workers. The results highlight the diversity and particularity of employment modalities in the PDW sector that are derived from negotiations between workers and employers, which in turn are influenced by the complexity of labor relations. The bonds marked by care imply a closeness that does not exist in other areas of the labor market. The proposal phase validated the findings of the previous phase and led to the formation of a provincial nucleus of organization around PDW.