Domestic workers covered under OASDHI, 1976.

Regular domestic work has been covered by the Federal old-age, survivors, disability, and health insurance (OASDHI) program since 1951. Domestic work covered by the program includes work performed by housekeepers, cooks, maids, waiters, butlers, valets, caretakers, babysitters, nursemaids, companions, governesses, gardeners, handymen, watchmen, and chauffeurs of family automobiles. In 1976, employers were required to report to the Internal Revenue Service the cash wages paid to domestic workers who earned at least $50 in a calendar quarter.1 These wages were reported on IRS Form 942, or, if the employer filed a combined report of regular and domestic employment, he used Form 94 1. The Social Security Administration processes these wage reports to update the earnings record it maintains for each worker, assigning a quarter of coverage (QC) for each calendar quarter in which the domestic worker is reported by some employer. (The 1977 amendments to the Social Security Act changed the criterion for assigning QC’s; in 1978, workers are credited with one QC for each $250 of earnings during the year, up to $1,000. The $250 measure effective in 1978 is to be automatically increased each year to keep pace with rising wages.) Social security benefits are payable to persons with sufficient QC’s, and the number required depends on the benefit sought. Generally, to qualify for retirement and survivor benefits, one needs a QC total equal to or greater than the number of years after 1950 (or the year of attainment of age 21, if later) and before the year of attainment of age 62 or the year of death, respectively. Table 1 gives a historical overview of covered domestic workers for the period 1965-76. The number of domestics reported on IRS Form 9422 decreased steadily from about I l/4 million in 1965 to two-thirds of that total in 1976. The counts of domestic workers shown here are lower than those obtained in the Current Population Survey (CPS) of households conducted by the Bureau of the Census because of the underreporting of such employment to