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LOW wages and no mandated rest days are causing a contraction in maid supply, according to placement agents. The lure of Hong Kong wages, typically double the Singapore going rate of $300 to $350, is well-known. But more of these women from the Philippines and South Asia are also seeking work in North America and Arab sheikhdoms, which pays rather more. On the demand side here, the situation gets ever tighter as women, married or single, work out of necessity. This is not confined to highly paid women, whose households may have two maids; it also affects the middle and lower-middle wage categories of one maid each. The collision point has long been coming, delayed only partially by the Manpower Ministry (MOM) expanding supply sources to include countries like Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. These are no longer adequate in meeting demand. The quality of workers is also falling. What should be done if the nation is to avoid a draining of indispensable women from the workforce to attend to home-care needs? There is no question that the exchange of value-add for unpaid domestic labour will make no economic sense.
Better pay for maids is an obvious answer, but is not the most feasible one. A doubling in wages or even a 50 per cent increase will not happen, going by statistical experience. The average wage has risen by less than half in 20 years, between the mid-1980s and now. The dollar is buying less, so a hike now will be resisted mightily, even if justified. Households are saddled with recurrent levy payments aside from the upfront charge, a security deposit or accident insurance and air passage home for a departing employee. Any increase forced by circumstance will be too small to make a difference in supply. A second alternative is home-grown maid and baby-sitting services, patterned after those in high-cost countries where keeping a live-in maid is prohibitive. But of what quality and at what cost? Hourly rated charges add up, and children will have to be cared for by working parents after hours. Couples with young children and no relatives to fall back on will find this service to be of little help. But the service is still worth developing, with appropriate government incentives, as a niche offering.
All that will leave more new supply sources as the most practical answer. MOM should be looking at the three Indochina states. And what of China? These are places with lower living and wage costs, an essential requirement. But over time, MOM will still run out of supply options and wages must rise to their natural levels. There is no running away from market logic.
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