COUNTING CHILD domestic servants seems a commonplace task. In fact, it is
both difficult and important. Child domestic servants are among the most vulnerable
of child workers and the most invisible. They may be treated well and
allowed to attend school, or they may be secluded in their employers’ homes,
ill-treated, overworked, and unable to leave or report their difficulties to kin.
In this analysis we ask how many children in six Latin American countries
are employed as domestics, how many live with their employers, whether
domestics make up a high proportion of child workers, and whether they are
disadvantaged in school attendance. Our hope is that this information will be
useful to policymakers, nongovernmental organizations, and activists seeking
to identify child domestic servants and improve their lives.