Constructing professional services: For-profit care and domestic work agencies in the Czech Republic

Souralová, Adéla; Jelínek, Matouš

doi:10.1016/j.wsif.2018.08.002

Cited by 2 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Three main reasons were provided for why they prefer outsourced domestic cleaning service companies to a domestic worker. First, domestic cleaning services are used as a luxury to have their homes cleaned professionally in a time-effective manner, which is a benefit that most housecleaning services offer their clients (Souralova and Jelinek, 2018: 56). Second, outsourced domestic cleaning services are used as a temporary solution to their domestic cleaning needs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Domestic cleaning services are also known for their specialisation and service quality. Some domestic cleaning services offer clients a choice between different cleaning deals at different prices (Souralova and Jelinek, 2018: 56). Most domestic cleaning companies train their domestic employees to practice Health and Safety regulations and hygiene procedures to avoid cross-contamination between homes and increase client satisfaction (Fudge and Hobden, 2018: 3).…”

Section: Domestic Work and Outsourced Domestic Cleaning Servicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Second, I have never formally employed a domestic worker or used a domestic cleaning service company, which have likely influenced the questions I initially asked during the interviews and the interpretations. To overcome these potential biases, I relied on several key studies (Ally, 2010;Devetter, 2015;Souralova and Jelinek, 2018) and conversations with people who employed domestic workers formally (or informally) and who had used domestic cleaning services to develop the interview guide. Questions were refined before the start of the data collection phase.…”

Section: Ethics and Positionalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Do Different Types of Households Use Outsourced Domestic Cleaning Services for Different Reasons? An Explorative Study in South Africa

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2022

Sociological Research Online

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In recent years, many households have shifted from employing a full-time or part-time domestic worker to using an outsourced domestic cleaning services company that specialises in professional household cleaning services. Few studies have focused on outsourced domestic cleaning services from clients’ perspectives. While there is limited research on the topic, a possible reason for the increase in outsourced domestic cleaning services might be that the domestic labour needs of the middle-class are changing. The decline in the stigma of voluntary childlessness and better educational and career opportunities for women have impacted household compositions. There has been a rise in one-person households and couples without children. These changes affect how domestic work is approached. Some women continue to perform domestic labour themselves, while others employ domestic workers or use outsourced domestic cleaning services. Against this background, this study sought to establish how changes in household compositions are linked to peoples’ preferences to use outsourced domestic cleaning services to take care of their domestic cleaning needs rather than employing a domestic worker on a full-time or part-time basis. This study draws on 18 qualitative interviews with clients of domestic cleaning services and shows that people who live alone, as a childless couple or in an empty-nest household, use outsourced domestic cleaning services for their convenience, efficiency, and flexibility. Couples with children tend to rely on personal help when it comes to care work but outsource less emotional domestic duties to domestic cleaning service companies. This study contributes to new insights by showing that domestic cleaning services are used by households who can afford and require flexible cleaning services offered by outsourced domestic cleaning services.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Domestic Work and Outsourced Domestic Cleaning Servicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Ethics and Positionalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Do Different Types of Households Use Outsourced Domestic Cleaning Services for Different Reasons? An Explorative Study in South Africa

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2022

Sociological Research Online

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“…Domestic outsourcing refers to contracting in specialised domestic service suppliers that render domestic cleaning duties to households (Fudge and Hobden, 2018: 3; Lair, 2007: 3–4). Scholarly research has focused mainly on why people decide to outsource domestic cleaning tasks to domestic service suppliers (Devetter and Rousseau, 2009; Safuta and Camargo, 2019; Souralova and Jelinek, 2018), while the profile of clients has rarely been investigated. One of the changes it brings forth is shifting a personal employer–domestic worker relationship into a less personal and bureaucratic tripartite one between clients, domestic cleaners, and managers or franchise owners (Moras, 2007: 99).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paid domestic work and outsourcing in South Africa: Clients’ views on trust, control and power relations

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2021

Current Sociology

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Outsourced domestic cleaning service suppliers reconfigure the bipartite employment relationship between employers and domestic workers into a tripartite one between clients (former employers of domestic workers), the management or franchise owners, and domestic employees. While this transformation is attractive to some, outsourcing domestic work involves more than the outsourcing of physical tasks of household cleaning. It also involves the outsourcing of the employment relationship where trust, control and power relations are passed on to the management of the domestic cleaning service suppliers. By taking trust, control and power relations as being reconfigured through outsourcing, this article debates why such reconfiguring might not be convenient for some. By doing this, trust, control and power are conceptualised and how it is perpetuated in a bipartite and tripartite domestic employment relationship. By drawing on 16 in-depth interviews with former clients of a domestic cleaning service supplier in South Africa, this article illustrates that perhaps outsourced domestic services are not an appropriate solution to everyone’s domestic cleaning needs and that some clients expect a particular relationship that is not achieved through outsourcing.

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Constructing professional services: For-profit care and domestic work agencies in the Czech Republic

Cited by 2 publications

References 32 publications

Do Different Types of Households Use Outsourced Domestic Cleaning Services for Different Reasons? An Explorative Study in South Africa

Do Different Types of Households Use Outsourced Domestic Cleaning Services for Different Reasons? An Explorative Study in South Africa

Paid domestic work and outsourcing in South Africa: Clients’ views on trust, control and power relations

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