Reliance on live-in maids reflects deeper malaise

The extent to which many households have grown dependent on domestic workers is perhaps related to the difficulties Singaporeans now face when trying to balance work and family commitments.

A ready supply of domestic workers from neighbouring countries has improved productivity here, by allowing both parents - for instance - to take up jobs, and also by reducing the reliance on grandparents.

From household chores to seeing to the needs of children or the elderly, domestic workers shoulder many responsibilities, and many Singaporeans have grown accustomed to such convenience.

Yet, having the same living and working environment can be unhealthy for the domestic worker, increasing the possibility for conflicts too.

Notwithstanding the issues of remuneration or employment benefits, living in workplaces may further increase the possibility of abuse, and it is also near-impossible for government agencies to uncover transgressions.

It will be argued by some that errant employers are far and few between, but if incidents do happen, it would be hard for a domestic worker to seek recourse.

How arrangements will pan out is contingent on our Indonesian counterparts. And even though the Ministry of Manpower will have to craft policies in response, it may be meaningful to consider Singapore's persistent socio-economic malaise.

See also: Indonesia wants live-out deal for new maids 

A recent study commissioned by the Families for Life Council found that one in 10 people spent six hours or less with their family members a week, which signals poor work-life balance.

In fact, Singaporean workers may be spending more time at the workplace without necessarily achieving productivity gains, so, examining our socio-economic assumptions will be useful.

Such discourse should shape policy changes - beyond recent proposals to build more after-school student care centres and the extension of paternity leave - so that working mothers do not have to shoulder child-rearing responsibilities on their own.

If improvements do take root in future, then our dependence on domestic workers - whether they are "live-in" or "live-out" - could ease, and maybe even improve the way we work and live in Singapore.

Kwan Jin Yao

See also: 'No live-in maids' a worry

This article was first published on May 20, 2016.
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