According to a new study of domestic workers across 14 metropolitan areas, workers are paid little and receive few benefits. The study found that the median wage for domestic workers was about $10 an hour, and that wages differed depending on ethnicity and immigration status. About 23% of the workers earned less than the minimum wage in their state, due to exemptions for domestic workers from minimum wage laws. Illegal immigrants earned less than other workers, as did live-in workers. About 65% of the workers said that they did not have any health insurance. 96% of the workers in the study were women.
See "A Study of Home Help Finds Low Worker Pay", Steven Greenhouse, The New York Times, November 26, 2012