This report explores how immigration status, labour market structures, and housing arrangements intersect to produce forms of irregularity and exploitation in the domestic work sector. It draws on twenty in-depth qualitative interviews with migrant domestic workers – primarily women from diverse national and social backgrounds, including Zimbabwe, the Philippines, Brazil, India, Kenya, Guinea, and Pakistan – and fourteen stakeholder interviews conducted in the West Midlands, UK, between January and May 2025.

Domestic work emerges as a labour market sector attractive to migrants holding a variety of precarious immigration statuses who are differentially exposed to exploitative employment and housing conditions. Many workers are employed in private homes under informal arrangements, with limited oversight and little
recourse to report abuse due to fear of immigration enforcement.

Stakeholders, including legal experts and civil society organisations, confirm that the current system incentivises dependency and creates a ‘compliant workforce’ that sustains underpaid care and domestic labour. Visa rules, sponsor dependency, high recruitment fees, and limited access to legal aid are key drivers of this dynamic.

The report adopts an intersectional approach, highlighting how gender, race, migration histories, and family obligations shape workers’ experiences and coping strategies. Despite severe constraints, many migrant workers resist exploitation through mutual support networks and acts of self-advocacy…