The Covid-19 pandemic as a trigger for the expansion of social rights: unemployment insurance for domestic workers in South America

The Covid-19 pandemic had a negative impact on domestic work in Latin America, one of the sectors most affected by job losses. In the context of this crisis, several countries in the region began to design medium-term responses and long-term policies based on unemployment insurance systems. By exploring the cases of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Uruguay from an institutionalist perspective and using documentary analysis, the article seeks to understand the level of protection provided by the regulations in force at the beginning of 2020 and the extent to which the Covid-19 pandemic triggered further normative changes that allowed for the expansion of domestic workers' rights in the region. The analysis of medium- and long-term policies revels different national patterns. While in some countries—such as Brazil and Colombia—several extensions were introduced as a result of layering, making it possible to extend unemployment insurance coverage during the Covid-19 pandemic, in others, gradual incremental changes—such as in Chile and Uruguay—and shocks—like in Argentina—led to the introduction of regulatory innovations in domestic work legislation. Thus, the Covid-19 pandemic triggered important institutional changes. Nevertheless, it remains to be seen whether these legal protections can be enforced in the future.