Maids make up a big segment in China’s labour market. Many middle-class families employ them, freeing wage-earners from household chores and helping balance the economy by allowing their wealth to trickle down.
Recently, a labour market in Shaanxi Province has been advertising a special kind of maid, who not only takes care of cooking and cleaning, but offers “bed-sharing” services with the head of the household.
According to the advert, these maids tend to be from rural areas — a totally redundant description since almost all maids have rural backgrounds — are over 35 years old and earn a high 2,000 yuan a month, in a market where a regular maid’s pay is about 500 yuan (US). [Full Text]
(Photo: A male employer showing a sign to the maids, which reads “Hire a ‘bed-sharing’ maid with a monthly wage of 2000 yuan)