Trabalhadoras domésticas: relações de trabalho antes, durante e após a pandemia

Abstract

This article presents an analysis of part of the data produced in a postdoctoral research project, which sought to identify how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the work relationships of students enrolled in EJA who worked as domestic workers until the time when social isolation was recommended. The qualitative research, based on semi-structured interviews, identified that they worked in an occupation marked by high informality, despite a decade having passed since the “PEC das Domésticas”, so that their income was not guaranteed in the event of an absence from work. The results show how the tightening of quarantine measures directly impacted their livelihoods. Laid off without any type of agreement or financial support, the need to survive was a decisive factor in seeking new sources of income for subsistence, instead of prioritizing isolation. We conclude that they still live in their daily lives, today, with the consequences of the pandemic, living daily with the results of the changes that occurred during that period with regard to their professional lives. Thus, the pandemic event caused a change with lasting effects, further exposing the need for public policies that serve this population, reducing their fragility and increasing their possibilities of reorganizing or replanning their lives, dreams and projects.