Between Regularity and Informality: Migrant Women Employed in the Personal and Household Services in Italy

Rocco Mazza , University of Bari Aldo Moro
Gabrielli Giuseppe, University of Naples Federico II
Strozza Salvatore, University of Naples Federico II
Anna Paterno

This paper investigates the incidence and determinants of informal employment among migrant women employed in the Personal and Household Services (PHS) in Italy. The analysis draws on new and original data from the FOLCSI survey on “Training, Employment, Care Work and Health of Immigrants and People with Migration Background in Italy”, which was conducted in 2024 and includes 12,608 adults with a migration background, regardless their citizenship and legal presence status, and interviewed in four Italian regions, namely: Lombardy, Lazio, Campania and Apulia. Focusing on female workers, the study compares the employment characteristics of those engaged in PHS with those employed in other occupational sectors. A variable considering job regularity was constructed to capture the degree of contractual formality, distinguishing between regular, partial-regular and informal employment. Descriptive findings reveal that less than 40% of PHS workers are employed under fully regular contracts, while nearly one-third work in fully informal arrangements. Compared to other female workers, domestic and care workers are significantly more exposed to contractual irregularity and partial-regular. Multivariate logistic regressions, controlling for age and education, confirm that the PHS sector is systematically associated with higher probabilities of part-time employment (52%), unskilled occupations (67%), and informal work (74%), even when compositional effects are considered. Conversely, the likelihood of earning less than €400 per month is slightly lower among domestic workers, potentially reflecting in-kind benefits or the stability of regular contracts. Overall, results highlight that informality is a structural feature of the PHS sector, deeply intertwined with gendered and migratory inequalities.

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 Presented in Session P4. Migration, Migrants, and Mobility