Personal Household Services (PHS) cover a variety of activities designed to assist individuals and families with their daily needs. These services are crucial for enhancing personal independence, achieving a work-life balance, and improving overall quality of life. With societal shifts towards flexible, community-based support, aligned with human-rights principles, the demand for PHS has significantly increased.

In the past two years, the PERHOUSE project has focused on improving working conditions and service quality within the PHS sector across Central and Eastern European countries. This initiative centred on enhancing industrial relations, responds to the growing demand for PHS driven by the move away from institutional support and social care. The project aims to improve service delivery by establishing workplace standards, addressing informal work practices, and integrating PHS into broader industrial frameworks.

As part of its efforts, the project has produced national reports and policy briefings for six Central and Eastern European countries, evaluating the current state of PHS and the impact of social dialogue on improving conditions for domestic workers. The latest report in this series focuses on working conditions in the PHS sector and social dialogue in Estonia.

Challenges for the PHS Sector in Estonia

The PERHOUSE report provides a comprehensive state of play of PHS in Estonia as well as identifies the key challenges the sector faces. These challenges include:

• Informal Employment: A large portion of PHS work is informal, characterised by cash payments and lack of official records. This results in inadequate social protection for workers and challenges for formal service providers in expanding their businesses.
• Labor Shortages: Low wages and high responsibility levels deter potential workers, exacerbating labour shortages. The market's small size often forces people to rely on personal networks for service providers.
• Demand and Accessibility: Demand for PHS in Estonia is below the EU average, partly due to economic constraints and cultural preferences for self-care.
• Workforce Working Conditions: The sector’s workforce is predominantly female, with workers experiencing low wages and high workloads.

PERHOUSE Recommendations

Moving forward the PERHOUSE partner's recommendations include:

• Developing a supportive regulatory framework. This includes creating tax incentives to encourage formal employment and service provision.
• Strengthening social dialogue which can contribute to improved working conditions and sector stability. However, organising workers remains challenging due to low interest and lack of union participation.
• Introducing long-term care insurance could address funding issues, ensuring better service provision for those in need.

To read the full Policy briefing in English, click here. To read the briefing in Estonian, click here.

To read the full PERHOUSE report for Estonia in English, click here. To read the report in Estonian, click here.

Additional Resources

You can learn more about the state of play of the PHS sector in Estonia via the PERHOUSE video here.

A comparative video discussing social dialogue in the PHS sector across Central and Eastern European countries is also available. watch the video, click here.

Click here to read all of the PERHOUSE resources, including national reports for Poland, Czechia, North Macedonia and Slovenia.