Is service work today worse than being a household servant?
by David Cay Johnston (@DavidCayJ), AlJazeera, December 10, 2013
Many service jobs used to be performed in homes of the wealthy, with better benefits
At least one class of American workers is having a much harder time today than a decade ago, than during the Great Depression and than a century ago: servants.
The reason for this, surprisingly enough, is outsourcing. Let me explain.
Prosperous American families have adopted the same approach to wages for servants as big successful companies, hiring freelance outside contractors for all sorts of functions — from child care and handyman chores to gardening and cleaning work — to reduce costs.
Instead of live-in servants, who were common in prosperous U.S. households before World War II, better-off families now outsource the family cook, maid and nanny. It is part of a problem in developed countries around the globe that is getting more attention worldwide than in the U.S.
(More here.)
Many service jobs used to be performed in homes of the wealthy, with better benefits
At least one class of American workers is having a much harder time today than a decade ago, than during the Great Depression and than a century ago: servants.
The reason for this, surprisingly enough, is outsourcing. Let me explain.
Prosperous American families have adopted the same approach to wages for servants as big successful companies, hiring freelance outside contractors for all sorts of functions — from child care and handyman chores to gardening and cleaning work — to reduce costs.
Instead of live-in servants, who were common in prosperous U.S. households before World War II, better-off families now outsource the family cook, maid and nanny. It is part of a problem in developed countries around the globe that is getting more attention worldwide than in the U.S.
(More here.)
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