48% Of S’poreans Believe That Domestic Helpers Should Be Paid Less Than $600/month

It doesn’t matter what your education level is, but for the purpose of this article, let’s imagine ourselves as domestic helpers who are travelling to another country.

We have to stay in with our newly met family 24/7 and be at their every beck and call and have only one day off.

If you’re lucky, you might have to clean another child’s poop off their butts.

If you’re not, you might have to (allegedly) stand on a glass awning to clean the house’ glass roof.

Fun stuff.

Jokes aside, how much would you hope to be paid for your labour?

48% Of S’poreans Believe That Domestic Helpers Should Be Paid Less Than $600/month

Apparently, a lot of Singaporeans don’t think domestic helpers should be paid much at all.

In a recent survey conducted by research agency YouGov in October, almost half (48%) of all Singaporeans who participated think that domestic helpers should be paid less than $600/month.

And given how their previous survey resulted in this:

We know their surveys can really change things.

To get the ball rolling, let’s look at some facts.

One in six Singaporean households (17%) employs a domestic helper. 32% of high-income households earning more than $15,000 a month employ a domestic helper as well.

44% of domestic helpers in Singapore are from Indonesia while 25% are from the Philippines, 11% are from Myanmar and 7% are from Malaysia.

Monthly Salary Salary Should Be Less Than $600

Since almost half of the surveyed feel that helpers should be paid less than $600, 52% think that domestic helpers should be paid more than $600.

27% felt that domestic helpers should be paid within $500 and $599 a month.

Interestingly, 68% also felt that one rest day was ‘adequate’ for domestic helpers.

59% of those who have domestic helpers said that the quality of their life here is good.

It’s worthwhile to note that those who do not employ domestic helpers are less likely to describe their quality of life as good.

Lastly, 55% agreed that the laws in place to protect the rights of domestic helpers are sufficient.