ABSTRACT

Most domestic workers in Latin America earn low wages and have no formal contract. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, the position of these workers became even more precarious as working time was reduced for many, and as a result, incomes declined. Many other workers suffered suspensions without pay or redundancy without severance. Governments across the region thus sought to develop new strategies to guarantee domestic workers’ income. Taking a comparative perspective, the paper aims to understand a variety of government responses to the domestic work issue during the COVID-19 pandemic in four Latin American countries (Argentina, Chile, Colombia and Paraguay). An analysis of all regulations enacted during the first nine months of the pandemic leads into a discussion of the primary dilemma states faced: determining whether domestic workers could be protected as workers or as a segment of the working poor.

摘要

拉丁美洲的大多数家庭工人工资很低，没有正式合同。当 COVID-19 大流行开始时，这些工人的地位变得更加不稳定，因为许多人的工作时间减少了，因此收入下降了。许多其他工人遭受停职无薪或裁员而无遣散费。因此，该地区各国政府寻求制定新的战略来保障家庭工人的收入。从比较的角度来看，本文旨在了解四个拉丁美洲国家（阿根廷、智利、哥伦比亚和巴拉圭）在 COVID-19 大流行期间政府对家庭工作问题的各种反应。对大流行前九个月颁布的所有法规的分析导致了对各州面临的主要困境的讨论：