Perception of Employers’ Children towards Domestic Helpers

Abstract

Numerous studies were carried out over the years on domestic helpers have focused on the employers’ perspectives. Very little research however, has been conducted to investigate the perception of domestic help among the employers’ children. Therefore, in this study, we aimed to have a clear perspective of the situation by analyzing the perception of employers’ children towardstheir domestic helpers. Three main issues were highlighted in this study: the relationship between the children and the domestic helpers, the opportunity costs of having domestic helpers, and the parental roles that should not be handed over to the domestic helpers. Additionally, this study explored the characteristics of domestic helpers favoured and unfavoured by the employers’ children. The primary data were collected via in-depth interviews and informal conversations with 13 adolescents aged between 18 and 20, whose full-time domestic helpers live within their households. The key finding of this study proved that the presence of household helpers had no significant impact on the relationship between the children and their parents or siblings. Also, the results indicated that domestic helpers should not be responsible in caring for their employers’ younger children, cooking and managing matters related to the children’s education.