Job search, social networks, and local labor-market dynamics: The case of paid household work in San Diego, California

Drawing on original interview and survey data, this paper examines the local labor-market dynamics for immigrant Mexicana household workers in San Diego, California. The study focuses on paid domestic "job workers" who clean the homes of several different employers each week and who are generally paid "under the table." This paper addresses two questions: (1) What is the social and geographical organization of the local labor market for paid household workers in San Diego? and (2) What are the implications of the local labor-market dynamics for the social relations of domestic workers and the space of the city? The analysis particularly emphasizes the role of job search in defining the terms of employment in paid household work. Because one of the most important ways of finding house-cleaning jabs is through personal referrals, the social networks of workers are also explored. The paper argues that the labor-market dynamics for paid household work contribute to the residential clustering of immigrants, and help create and maintain differences among domestic workers and hierarchical relations between workers and their employers. The findings of this case study have implications for other expanding contingent and informal labor markets.