Is having house helpers necessary?

[kotajikikox]

Recently, I found out that not all countries commonly have house helpers. I am not talking about really rich people but only those in middle class. A lot of them have house helpers and this seems to be common in countries in southeast asia. It seems like families of middle class from other cultures do not have house helpers.

It has been said that these house helpers allow the people to join workforce. For example with Singapore, a lot of the women work in offices because they have house helpers doing house chores for them and taking care of their children.

I am guessing that the reason why this is a cultural difference is because domestic help is an industry often common where countries have limited job opportunities and have a big income inequality. Can the normalization of domestic help in middle-class households perpetuate class divisions?

[IIrik11]

house helpers aka maid are very expensive

and middle class people cannot afford them is the main reason

plus if i leave my home alone with a maid in charge

i might come back to an empty house

[Porfirii]

In Spain I won't say that this is ubiquitous, but it is relatively common to hire a house helper when both husband and wife work. They are usually immigrants, who usually charge less for their services but are well protected by labor regulation, especially from Latin America, with whom we share language and religion and, to a certain extent, culture, and not so usually Romanians and Moors.

If both spouses have the same working hours, incompatible with other obligations, it can be necessary in some cases, but we've rules for family reconciliation, so I would say that in most cases they're hired more for convenience than out of necessity, at least in my country.

[Majestic-milf]

house helpers aka maid are very expensive

and middle class people cannot afford them is the main reason

plus if i leave my home alone with a maid in charge

i might come back to an empty house

Lolz, that's your own fear. There's an agency for these kinds of people and even though you have this fear that something might happen to your home, I'm sure that you may get compensated should someone whom you hired from the said agency does you dirty.
 I feel that the reason people hire these helpers is so that they too can have time for themselves because their secular jobs can be a strain and adding the task of taking care of the home also adds to the stress. Although it's not everyone that prefers this despite being upper or middle class.

[Solosanz]

Remember the house helper in developed and developing countries are different.

Developed countries in SEA want house helpers from developing countries because they're cheaper, uneducated and have less power.
Developing countries in SEA can hire house helpers from their own countries because they're very cheap.

It's not easy to become a house keeper in US or EU because there are requirements to fulfill and people who can fulfill it are educated, so the homeowner can't do whatever they want since they're risking to get report. The house helper in US and EU are expensive though.

tl;dr middle class in SEA can afford house helper, while middle class in EU and US can't.

[philipma1957]

Remember the house helper in developed and developing countries are different.

Developed countries in SEA want house helpers from developing countries because they're cheaper, uneducated and have less power.
Developing countries in SEA can hire house helpers from their own countries because they're very cheap.

It's not easy to become a house keeper in US or EU because there are requirements to fulfill and people who can fulfill it are educated, so the homeowner can't do whatever they want since they're risking to get report. The house helper in US and EU are expensive though.

tl;dr middle class in SEA can afford house helper, while middle class in EU and US can't.

So I live in New Jersey. If I hire a legal house keeper I need to pay 16 per hour at least 4 hours 5 days a week. 

That is 4x5x16=320 a week or 17000 a year.

And it is after tax money.

So if my wife and I earn 200,000 pre tax it is 140,000 after tax to pay 17,000 out of that 140,000 is a lot.

Remember the 140,000 left after salary tax does not include property tax for a home say 15,000

so 140,000-15,000=125,000 now pay for health insurance maybe 15,000 to 25,000 so 100,000

yet to pay
power
heat
car insurance
phone bill
house insurance
clothes
food
actual car purchase or lease
home repairs
water bill
sewer bill. this is about 50k
oh mortgage 24k

so 100k-50k =50K-24k =26 K

so 26k left no vacation
no internet
no dining out

so paying the 17k is really hard and that is only for 4 hours a day 5 days a week

this is typical if you are in New Jersey USA

so if you have 50

[Accardo]

So I live in New Jersey. If I hire a legal house keeper I need to pay 16 per hour at least 4 hours 5 days a week.  

That is 4x5x16=320 a week or 17000 a year.

And it is after tax money.

So if my wife and I earn 200,000 pre tax it is 140,000 after tax to pay 17,000 out of that 140,000 is a lot.

Remember the 140,000 left after salary tax does not include property tax for a home say 15,000

so 140,000-15,000=125,000 now pay for health insurance maybe 15,000 to 25,000 so 100,000

yet to pay
power
heat
car insurance
phone bill
house insurance
clothes
food
actual car purchase or lease
home repairs
water bill
sewer bill. this is about 50k
oh mortgage 24k

so 100k-50k =50K-24k =26 K

so 26k left no vacation
no internet
no dining out

so paying the 17k is really hard and that is only for 4 hours a day 5 days a week

this is typical if you are in New Jersey USA

so if you have 50

This is a hell of a lot of bills to pay out there in the US, the opportunities to earn is there, but the taxes and multiple bills are just too scary when viewed from the third part of the world. For instance, after the expenses, the remaining 26k goes into where? Savings or just house keeping?

[cabron]

It becomes normal not just because there are people who also wants to work as domestic helper. The people in Singapore for example is not going to do the house chores and take care of their elderly as they also have future plans for themselves. They are pursuing careers.

Those who has the need to make money while has the passion to do house chores and take care of kids or elderly, I guess can do the work for them. If domestic helper is an industry, then it must have been worth it for them that middle class can pay high.

But what I know is they also live in the same house. Isn't this a modern day slavery?

[Farhan99]

Recently, I found out that not all countries commonly have house helpers. I am not talking about really rich people but only those in middle class. A lot of them have house helpers and this seems to be common in countries in southeast asia. It seems like families of middle class from other cultures do not have house helpers.

It has been said that these house helpers allow the people to join workforce. For example with Singapore, a lot of the women work in offices because they have house helpers doing house chores for them and taking care of their children.

I am guessing that the reason why this is a cultural difference is because domestic help is an industry often common where countries have limited job opportunities and have a big income inequality. Can the normalization of domestic help in middle-class households perpetuate class divisions?

Yeah, in this fast paced era, having house helpers is becoming a trend. There is almost a single house helper in every home to do house works and take care of the children. It has become necessity than a luxury because due to the high living standards and high costs of the products both the parents have to work in order to feed their children. Due to inequality in the economics parents prefer to have a house helper rather than working by themselves. House helpers play great role in maintaining house, parenting and peaceful home environment allowing individuals focus on their goals, careers, studies and passion. In the families where male and female both are professionals helpers take off the pressure of cooking, cleaning and childcare but there maybe some risks. Parents by themeselves can train and teach their children better than any house helper. Because a house helper with bad habits can destroy their family or either harm their children. Some people still manage well without house helpers but they may not focus on their aims in life. In modern era, house helpers have became a practical and valuable part.

[passwordnow]

It's common if the couple are working professionals. They don't have time to clean, to cook and even to take care of their children. So, the time that someone is going to spend in doing all of the chores that are assigned to them, they get paid well for that. While the couple professionals are working and both of them are helping in finances. It becomes necessary nowadays I think not just in the middle class but even the poor ones when they start to have more time to work and realizes that it will consume them a lot of time if they'll do the chores. So, hiring one is leveraging their time and using it wisely so they can be more productive with what they do.

[Charles-Tim]

house helpers aka maid are very expensive

and middle class people cannot afford them is the main reason

In my country, if you are average, you can get a house help. The money paid them is very small.

plus if i leave my home alone with a maid in charge

i might come back to an empty house

But this is the problem. In my country, there was a maid that killed the mother of an ex-governor and took plenty of her money with her. He was later apprehended. There are may cases like this that I have read on the news which makes people to be afraid of having house help.

[philipma1957]

So I live in New Jersey. If I hire a legal house keeper I need to pay 16 per hour at least 4 hours 5 days a week.  

That is 4x5x16=320 a week or 17000 a year.

And it is after tax money.

So if my wife and I earn 200,000 pre tax it is 140,000 after tax to pay 17,000 out of that 140,000 is a lot.

Remember the 140,000 left after salary tax does not include property tax for a home say 15,000

so 140,000-15,000=125,000 now pay for health insurance maybe 15,000 to 25,000 so 100,000

yet to pay
power
heat
car insurance
phone bill
house insurance
clothes
food
actual car purchase or lease
home repairs
water bill
sewer bill. this is about 50k
oh mortgage 24k

so 100k-50k =50K-24k =26 K

so 26k left no vacation
no internet
no dining out

so paying the 17k is really hard and that is only for 4 hours a day 5 days a week

this is typical if you are in New Jersey USA

so if you have 50

This is a hell of a lot of bills to pay out there in the US, the opportunities to earn is there, but the taxes and multiple bills are just too scary when viewed from the third part of the world. For instance, after the expenses, the remaining 26k goes into where? Savings or just house keeping?

we save our excess.

things really cost $$$ in USA

I would be considered middle class but lower level of middle class.

We are retired so we make less than the 200k example I gave. but we do not pay a mortgage.

So at years end we have the same 15-25k left . as my example.

[Sim_card]

Down here in Africa, middle class can't pay for a house help and they don't bother about it because it's not a necessity. Only the rich can afford to pay for house help, because their wives are always lazy and don't like doing house chores. Most times, they provide accommodation for the house help to stay with them.

[Accardo]

we save our excess.

things really cost $$$ in USA

I would be considered middle class but lower level of middle class.

We are retired so we make less than the 200k example I gave. but we do not pay a mortgage.

So at years end we have the same 15-25k left . as my example.

Probably the savings gets to compound, please could you chime in about compound interest in the USA, does it worth it? Enduring to enjoy later, that is the persons get to enjoy their wealth when they're much older or retired?

[jvanname]

House helpers steal and perform evil maid attacks. People with money should live in a small house and do all the cleaning themselves. The exception is if you have a lot of fucking kids around. In that case, those fuckers need to clean up after themselves. But seriously, there is no point in having a big house at all. Instead of having a big house, people should have a bunker with a positive pressure unit and a lot of non-perishable foods and seeds in case of nuclear warfare or a real pandemic (and I am not talking about covid).

Regards,

-Joseph Van Name Ph.D.

[Macro Exchange]

Recently, I found out that not all countries commonly have house helpers. I am not talking about really rich people but only those in middle class. A lot of them have house helpers and this seems to be common in countries in southeast asia. It seems like families of middle class from other cultures do not have house helpers.

It has been said that these house helpers allow the people to join workforce. For example with Singapore, a lot of the women work in offices because they have house helpers doing house chores for them and taking care of their children.

I am guessing that the reason why this is a cultural difference is because domestic help is an industry often common where countries have limited job opportunities and have a big income inequality. Can the normalization of domestic help in middle-class households perpetuate class divisions?

The availability of house helpers can definitely support workforce participation, especially for women, but it also raises important questions about fair wages, working conditions, and longterm social mobility.

Do you think societies that rely heavily on domestic help are also investing enough in public childcare and family support systems? Or does the private solution make governments less likely to act?

[LTU_btc]

I wouldn't say it's necessary, but if you're able to hire house helpers, that's great. Only thing seems that situation in Europe and Asia is a bit different. If you're middle class, not everyone can hire house helpers. As said above, in Asia people getting paid for this work little - in Europe such thing won't work.
For people who value their time, it's needed. You return tired from work and then you have to clean mess at home. But with house helpers, you can simply rest, spend time with family and use your time more productively.

plus if i leave my home alone with a maid in charge

i might come back to an empty house

Usually people don't hire some strangers from the street. There is companies who provide these services, they work offiicially. And if something is gone from your home, person who did will have big problems.

[OgNasty]

I've never had a "house helper" in my life and although I do know some people who have, I don't have a ton of respect for them.  Part of being a man (at least how I was raised) is being able to take care of your property.  My father is in his late 70s and still spends nearly every day working on a large property.  I do all my landscaping work myself, and most of my home repairs.  Given my father's example, I would like to keep this up until old age if possible.  However, I'm not going to lie...  Some of these houses I'm looking at have me thinking I would need to hire at least an occasional maid so I don't spend the rest of my life dusting, mopping, and vacuuming. 

[coolcoinz]

plus if i leave my home alone with a maid in charge

i might come back to an empty house

Only if you hire a Gypsy.

Most maids are honest and care about their jobs. My wife's grandmother used to be one. The way it works, people will hire you to clean a house once a week. If you're good at it, they will recommend you to their friends and family and give you a job for years. If you're lazy, or you happen to steal something, they will make sure you'll have a hard time getting hired. That's why real maids, the ones with experience, will never steal from you and they will make sure the house is perfect, even if they have to spend more time and charge you more.

[Achalugo BTC]

House helpers are very necessary in some cases, especially as couple, if they are working class people, and they have kids, they can get house helps for their assistant,   for their services.

Although, not all couples get house helps because of kids, some get it to help them clean the house, cook for them, etc.

Though, without the agreement of the couples, dey won't want a house.