Add to ORKGPersonal services have been at the heart of employment policies in France for more than twenty years, and particularly so since 2005. However, the desire to exploit a potential source of employment has led to an emphasis on job quantity at the expense of job quality which, despite the avowed efforts of numerous actors, remains poor. The article analyses the gap between their assertions and reality and examines the mechanisms that ensnare personal services in a 'precarity trap'. However, there are differences depending on the activity in question. Thus the prospects for improvement are better in care activities than in domestic services. It is these differences that justify an analysis based on the notion of 'worlds of production'.Les servic...