Guangzhou Maids Blamed for Family Break Ups

Guangzhou Maids Blamed for Family Break Ups
12/14/2005
Updated:
12/14/2005

HONG KONG - Special maids have recently appeared in the labor market of Guangzhou City, the capital of Guangdong Province. In addition to taking care of chores and children, they also offer special bedroom services. The maids cost over 1,000 yuan (US$124) each month, twice that of a normal maid. It is said that male employers welcome them, but female employers blame these maids for breaking up families.

On December 11, Hong Kong’s Ming Pao newspaper reported that Ms. He claimed to be a victim of such a home service maid. Ms. He and her husband of 40 years had a good relationship. During this spring festival, she went to visit her daughter in Shaoguan, a city in the north of Guangzhou. When she returned, the neighbors told her that her husband had hired a special maid. Ms. He saw her husband sleeping with the maid when she opened the door of her home.

Her husband said that he paid 1,000 yuan monthly to a home service company to provide the maid.

It is reported that the pamphlets distributed by some Guangzhou’s home service companies list maid services like babysitting, but some of the pamphlets publicly offer special services like love, escort services or travel companions.

To hire these special maids to provide bedroom services costs twice as much as regular maids. In Guangzhou, a regular maid doing only chores can earn 400 yuan ($49.54) a month. One maid, offering bedroom services, says the single employer requires her to serve all day long. So, she deserves a high salary of at least $1,000 yuan. If the owner has a wife, he only pays 700 to 800 yuan ($87-99).