THE DIARIZATION OF DOMESTIC WORK AND THE PROCESS OF BECOMING A DAILY WORKER

Abstract

Domestic employment is one of the main entry paths for women into the labor market in Brazil, especially among Black and poor women. Understanding the domestic labor market in the country requires adopting the concept of intersectionality, which reveals how gender, race, and class inequalities shape the organization of this occupation. Among the paid domestic workers in Brazil, there are the monthly workers and the daily workers. The first group works in a single household and receives their salary monthly. On the other hand, daily workers are paid per day worked and often serve multiple households. Since the beginning of the 21st century, there has been a notable increase in the number of daily workers in Brazil, despite the rights restrictions that this group faces. This article aims to comprehend the process of becoming a daily laborer and the determining elements for the continuation of a career as a daily worker. To achieve this, a qualitative method of semi-structured interviews was employed with ten daily workers in the Metropolitan Region of Recife, and the collected data were analyzed using Laurence Bardin's content analysis. The findings of this research reveal that the choice to become a daily worker is not typically planned; however, throughout the experience as daily workers, these laborers perceive immediate advantages that lead them to prefer this occupation compared to that of a live-in domestic: more attractive remuneration, greater recognition, and autonomy. These perceived benefits end up overshadowing the absence of legal protections.