Creating Equality — the maid profession
What is “Maid”?
“Maid” is a female domestic worker who performs domestic labor such as laundry, cooking, and cleaning. On the other hand, a boy refers to a male domestic worker. Currently, it only refers to the type of job, and it also includes employees in charge of hotel guest rooms (room keeper).
During the Victorian period (20 June 1837–22 January 1901), domestic work was the second most common employment category after agricultural work in England and Wales.
(Source: The Victorian Web)
In today’s developed Western countries such as France and Italy, full-time maids are becoming rarer, but they are said to exist in the wealthiest families. However, there are still many maids within the Asian continent, and their presence is especially common among the middle class in urban areas. In Vietnam, where I am now, there are full-time maids, but there are also live-in maids.
The job of “Maid”
Maids do everything in the household. They take care of things you would normally do yourself, such as cleaning, cooking and grocery shopping, doing laundry and ironing, and taking care of pets.
Although maids may also take care of children, there is also a more specific occupational category called babysitters. As you can see from old photographs, both present and past, many maids are required by their employers to wear uniforms.
“Maid” in Western and Eastern societies
In modern Western society, the presence of live-in and full-time maids has decreased significantly, except for the very wealthy. Instead, the use of housekeeping and cleaning services is becoming more common, relying on cleaners hired directly or through agencies (so-called maid services).
On the other hand, many countries in Eastern societies are classified as developing countries compared to Western societies. In these countries, there is a large disparity in household income between urban and rural areas, and it is true that there are few women who are well-educated.
Due to limited employment opportunities for women with low levels of education, their labor force is reserved for domestic work, which is a factor in why there are more maids than in Western societies.
“Maid” working environment
Vietnam recently passed a law that requires employers to enroll their maids in social insurance. In this way, the laws of many countries stipulate “certain living conditions,’’ “working hours,’’ and “minimum wages’’ as requirements for domestic services.
However, reality doesn’t work out that way. Once the law is in place, it will take time for it to be implemented in the real world. As a result, the work of maids is always difficult, and they are forced to work long hours and few days off. The following image is a job information for domestic workers currently recruiting in the Ho Chi Minh area of Vietnam as of April 13, 2024.
Although it is written in Vietnamese, it states that you will only have one day off per month and that you will receive a salary of approximately 380 to 450 USD.
History of “Maid”
Discrimination was once common in all countries around the world, and occupational discrimination was one of them, as it is today. Occupations were divided into classes, and domestic workers such as maids were classified as lower class.
In addition to occupations, gender discrimination once existed (and still exists in many societies), with men somehow having a higher position than women. Therefore, for women who did not have enough education, choosing the occupation of maid, which is domestic work, was the best and most common way to earn money.
The word maid means an unmarried young woman or virgin. Therefore, lower-class workers such as maids were expected to remain unmarried. As a result, and unfortunately, maids were also subjected to rape by their employers, and maids who came as refugees were forced to have their passports and ID cards taken away by their employers, leaving them unable to escape. This has led to the development of major problems such as these.
In 19th century England, children were often employed as domestic workers, working from morning until late at night, often for wages of between six and nine pounds a year. It is also said that it was common for people to have only one or two days off a month.
However, towards the end of the 19th century, the relationships between employers and maids began to weaken, and the maids’ loyalty to their employers began to weaken due to the major problems mentioned above.
After that, the demand for maids and other servants decreased, resulting in many people not hiring maids today.
Countries with many “Maids” and nationalities of “Maids”
As mentioned above, there are still many full-time and live-in maids in Eastern society. Among them, there are countries where there are many maids.
They are Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
(Reference: Migration News)
Although the source material is old, it is said that there are still many maids in these countries.
On the other hand, there are some countries where there are many nationalities where people become maids.
They are the Philippines, Myanmar, and Indonesia.
(Reference: United Channel)
Furthermore, there is also a website called “Search made’’.
The rankings listed here have similar results.
(Reference: Search Maid)
Existence of a site to search for “Maid”
In every country in the world, there are bulletin boards for finding maids. This is a site where you can search by entering your age, nationality, and maid history. On the other hand, people who want to become maids enter in their profile fields which country they would like to work in and what they are good at. For this time’s reference, I will paste the one from Mexico as a reference.
(Reference: Greataupair)
Job description and compensation
The more difficult the job, the more money you will receive.
For example, professions such as doctors, pilots, and lawyers are specialized and not for everyone.
Since you use advanced knowledge during your work and your job involves putting people’s lives in your hands, the rewards are high.
It is true that the more difficult the job, the better the pay.
It is also true that jobs that require physical labor are highly compensated.
A typical example would be professional athletes. This is true of athletic talent, but also the shortness of the athlete’s career, which results in a considerable amount of compensation.
I also remember that when I was a student, working part-time as a mover was popular and offered good pay. Carpenters and architects are also in this category. In this way, manual labor can still be considered a remunerative occupation when compared to other occupations.
Crushing occupational discrimination
But what about the maid?
As we have seen, maids are paid low wages in all countries and are considered to be a lower class occupation. Because it is recognized as a job that anyone can do, the pay is also low.
Despite the physical labor involved in this job, there is little time off, and it is viewed very harshly in all countries.
However, I would like to pose a question here.
●Did they choose this profession out of their own will and because they love it?
●Why is this job (service) in demand and needed?
●Can anyone really do this job?
“KIREI” solves the unconscious discriminatory viewpoint towards this job, which requires wearing a proper uniform and being loyal to the employer just like any other job, and is forced to work long hours.
There are professionals in every profession.
Work that moves people is not only rewarded with high fees but also respected.
I think it will take time, but “KIREI” will definitely break down the big, invisible walls.
