International Journal of Advance Study and Research Work (2581-5997)/ Volume 3/Issue 10/October 2020

A Study on Challenges Faced by Household Owners

Managing Domestic Workers
Ms. Archana Kherde1& Dr. Milind Peshave2
1
Research Student, Savitribai Phule Pune University
2
Professor, AISSMS College of HMCT, Pune
Email Id: archanacharde22@gmail.com
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.4319917

Abstract

Domestic helper is an integral part of society who helps every working professional in the smooth functioning of their household
chores. A career-oriented woman needs additional help to create a balance in her professional and personal life. Domestic
helper is thus a necessity of such officials. Although owners need domestic helpers to carry out the daily tasks smoothly, they
cannot agree to every term and condition of a domestic helper. They have to constantly lookout for ideas to motivate their maids
and servants. It might seem a very inconsiderable topic of discussion, however, managing the domestic helper has become a part
of daily struggle in the owner's life.
This study found that the major challenges faced by household owners are of daily life. This paper is based on personal opinion
of household owners. Based on finding the study motivational tools for domestic helpers and recommend key practices for them
at the workplace.

Keywords: Household owners, domestic workers, motivational tools, challenges

Introduction
Nowadays, urbanization and self-dependency has made women to step out of the threshold of the house and look out for their own
path of development. Women are more determined on rising up their career graph and building foundation for her own identity. Due
to the high paced life and daily struggle to manage work and home, it has become nearly mandatory for each house to seek for
additional help. Hence, almost in every house maid plays an important role in managing the struggle of day to day household life.
Collaboration of maids and owners handled to maid enjoying the same privileges of house along with owners. Sometimes the house
maids permanently stay with owners to serve 24/7. In some places, maids are given the equal respect and love as a family member
The main focus of my study is on the challenges faced by owners in managing the domestic workers. With the rapid growth in
demands of maids, management of servants had also become important topic of discussion. Although the owners being necessarily
dependent on domestic owners, they cannot afford to fulfill each and every demands of maids. However, the compulsion of
additional help and smooth functioning of daily life, willingly or unwillingly, owners are forced to fulfill most of the demands.
It is very difficult for a career oriented woman to balance their professional as well as personal life. Woman has to look after every
family member and their needs. Also she should ensure that her house is clean and everything is functioning smoothly. Along with
this, she has to forcibly build up the strength to take down the work pressure at office. The only way she can work peacefully in
office is if the house is running steadily even in her absence. Hence, woman relies on her maid much more than anything else to
carry on the struggle of managing her house with her work. In this scenario, if a maid takes leave for a single day, women has to go
through a complete hassle throughout the day. Frequent absenteeism of maids frustrates the owners and leads to a gap between
owner and servants.
The domestic helpers come from the economically backward class of society. They are financially unstable with lack of daily
supplies at their place. They struggle to fulfill the basic need of food and shelter for their family. It is completely impossible for
them to maintain the standards of life. They seek for more income by working at maximum number of house. This leads to their
irregular timings and non-efficiency of delivering maximum output. Conclusively, conflicts between unsatisfied owners and
irregular maids arise.

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 International Journal of Advance Study and Research Work (2581-5997)/ Volume 3/Issue 10/October 2020

The maids are always in need of money to meet their daily needs on rough surface. They struggle hard to pay the school fees,
medical bills, monthly grocery bill, electricity bill etc. The only source of money for maids are their owners. In order to balance their
financial needs, maids frequently seek for money from owners. Also, maids tend to ask for paid leaves; which is highly a matter of
concern of owner. Another aspect in managing a maid is trust. Trust is the foundation of any institute. However it becomes difficult
for owners to trust their new maid completely for her being monotonous part of economically backward section of society. Owners
keep a strict eye on new maids which is completely intolerable for the servant.

Review of literature
Ekta Rani1 and Rajni Saluja2 (July 2017) researched on topic “Study on Domestic Help Workers and Factors Affecting
Realization of their Rights in the State of Punjab” and interpreted that the domestic workers face worst condition socially as well as
economically. They are less recognized at their work with heavy workload. However they are not able to establish comfortable
atmosphere in their own house. They belong to the economically backward section of society and mostly live in slum areas. They
are not paid on ay uniform pay structure. They are forced to work more as compared to their wages. Illiteracy and poverty forces
them to unwillingly work with whatever salary is paid to them. The female domestic helper is harassed by her own in laws and
husband for money. In order to protect humanity and Woman rights, it is necessary to empower the domestic helpers with correct
laws and to awaken them against this exploitation.
Dr. Shinie Poulose( March 2017) published international journal on topic “Problems faced by the domestic workers at workplace:
A study in erode district of Tamil Nadu” which states that the domestic workers don’t have specific working hours directly
proportional to their wages. Their job is not secured. They have to work regularly even in diseased conditions. The government
should implement some laws to barricade the rights of domestic workers. New laws should be made to give a clear idea of the wages
to be paid to the maid with respect to their work done. The domestic workers will be able to live a secure life with a simultaneous
effort of government, NGOs and employers.54
Neetha N. and Rajni Palriwala( 2011) published article on topic “The Absence of State Law: Domestic Workers in India” states
that there is no law in India to protect the rights and duties of domestic helpers. The non-regulation of salary structure and
exploitation of servants have degraded the livings of domestic helpers. Less wages, unfavourable working conditions, poverty
illiteracy, caste, migrants, lack of alternative work and the extremities of their personal life are all resultant factors of informal
domestic workers. The betterment of social policy depends on the extent to which these factors are eliminated and the domestic
helpers are placed in the organized system of working atmosphere.
Chandramouli, Kodandarama( November 2018) published journal on topic“ Women Domestic Workers in India” and concluded
that the female domestic workers are deprived of becoming a respectable factor of this society due to lack of efficient safeguarding
measures and other laws for woman empowerment. They are politically misused, economically exploited and socially unrecognized
section which goes through injustice in every aspect. The female helpers are also sometimes, physically assaulted by their male
owners.
Geetika Sachdeva (jan 2018) Stuti Arora (Jan 2018) published journal on topic“ Working & living conditions of domestic
workers” which states that in the light of above data analysis, interpretation and case studies; over the period of urbanization of
society, the domestic helpers still live degraded life. Although lots of efforts are being taken by the government to uplift the
domestic workers, yet there is a long way to meet the goals on exact note. It can be clearly seen that despite of huge need of
additional help, the domestic workers are ill-treated and exploited.
Anand (2017) mentioned in study on topic “Issues and Challenges faced by Women Domestic workers in Thideer Nagar at
Saidapet, Chennai City” states that many countries in the world are taking efforts to secure and enhance the quality of livelihood of
domestic helpers. The political representatives are emphasized for the need of uniform pay structure and laws to enforce favorable
working conditions for maids and servants. The government should also rectify the policies with respect to Domestic Workers
(Registration, Social Security and Welfare) Act, 2008. The first and the foremost step that the Government should take is to bring all
the domestic helpers under one roof and draft a uniform pay rights and regulation act for them.
Dr. Meena priya Dharshini (July 2016) mentioned in her study on topic “A study on socio-economic status of women domestic
workers (WDW) In Puduvayal, Sivaganga District” the socio economic condition of female workers coming from small section of
various suburban areas to work in niches of Puduvayal. The upper class of the society drains out the domestic workers and yet the
workers remain unrecognized. Prolonged service in the same house builds a trustworthy relation between owners and domestic
helpers. At times, servants expect financial assistance from the owners in case of emergencies. The female workers are exploited
physically as well as socially for them being illiterate and unknown to human their rights.There is an urgent need to understand the
problems faced by women domestic workers and take essential steps to recognize their hard-work.
Dr. S. Sudharsan Ms. A. Arul Priya (September 2019) published journal on topic “A study situation analysis of women working
in unorganized sector with special reference to domestic workers” which states that the illiterate and economically backward females

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 International Journal of Advance Study and Research Work (2581-5997)/ Volume 3/Issue 10/October 2020

prefer

domestic help as a source of livelihood. A huge part of this domestic helpers section is woman; hence it is essential to secure and
safeguard their workplace. Government should take strict actions against exploitation of female domestic helpers and imply laws for
uniform salary structure.
Swift research briefing note on, “Young female domestic workers perceptions of health and safety” states that we cannot deny the
fact that the demand for female domestic workers is increasing in urban areas. The illiterate and economically backward females are
forced to take up domestic help as their full time job to provide financial support in the family due to gender labour market
inequality. They are unable to upgrade their life due to low wages and consequently remain illiterate forever.

Objectives of study
Below are the main objectives of the study:
1. To explore the scope of domestic workers and identify their services.
2. To analyze the challenges faced by household owners in management of Domestic workers.
3. To identify the motivational practices followed by household owners to retain domestic workers and enhance their
productivity.

Research methodology

This section refers to the method and data sources used to carry out this study and evaluate the research objectives.

4.1 Techniques of Data Collection

The present research study involves both primary and secondary data. The primary data is collected through field survey by the help
of a structured questionnaire with multiple choice answer options.
The questionnaire consists of definite, concrete and pre-ordered questions. The scaling technique installed in the questionnaire is 5-
point Likert-scale. The secondary data is also collected by referring to the Journals, research magazines and published data on varied
in nature.

4.2 Type of Research

For the purpose of the present study, descriptive research design methodology has been adopted .
4.3 Sample Design, Sample Size and Sample Method

Sample selected for the study is 100 household owners.

4.4 Limitations of the Study

The research survey completely based on the opinion of the household owners.
Data analysis & finding

In this paper, researcher collected data from the respondents through the responses given by them in the questionnaire. The
question wise interpretation of the respondents is given below

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 International Journal of Advance Study and Research Work (2581-5997)/ Volume 3/Issue 10/October 2020

 “Uninformed Absenteeism, Irregular Timing & Expectation of Payment during Leaves” are most challenging factors faced
by household owners.

 “Constant Demand for Money, Constant Close Supervision, and Threat of Stealing/Theft & Lack of Interest in work” are
the least challenging factors faced by household owners.

 The major difference in challenges faced by male and female household owners is on “Irregular Timing and Constant
Demand for Money” while “Constant Close Supervision and Threat of Stealing/Theft” is having least difference of opinion .

 “Uninformed absenteeism, Irregular Timing & Expectation of Payment during Leaves” are most challenging factors faced by
household owners.

 “Constant Demand for Money, Constant Close Supervision and Threat of Stealing/Theft & Lack of Interest” in work are the
least challenging factors faced by household owners.

 There is an alignment reported between the challenges faced by married and unmarried household owners on the factors
“uninformed absenteeism, Irregular Timing & Expectation of Payment during Leaves, Constant Demand for Money, Constant
Close Supervision, and Threat of Stealing/Theft & Lack of Interest in work”.

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 International Journal of Advance Study and Research Work (2581-5997)/ Volume 3/Issue 10/October 2020

 “Respectable treatment, salary/ festival and fair payment” are the motivational tools mostly adopted by household owners.

 “Counseling, Paid Weekly Off, Training in Specialized Skill. Festival Gifts and Funding Children Education” are the
motivational tools least adopted by household owners.

 There is an alignment reported between the motivational tools adopted by male and female household owners on the factors
of “Respectable treatment, salary/ festival, fair payment, Counseling, Paid Weekly Off, Training in Specialized Skill and
Festival Gifts and Funding Children Education”.

MOTIVATIONAL PRACTICES FOR HOUSEHOLD OWNERS

4 3.48 3.49
3.5 3.16 3.17
2.81 2.83 2.91 2.93
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
Domestic help is an It is difficult to find and retain Domestic helpers should be Owners would be ready to
important aspect in todays good domestic helpers organize through pay little extra money for
busy life professional agencies/service such professional services
providers

FEMALE MALE

 Domestic help is an important aspect in today’s busy life and It is difficult to find and retain good domestic helpers are the
most motivational practices.

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 International Journal of Advance Study and Research Work (2581-5997)/ Volume 3/Issue 10/October 2020

 Domestic helpers should be organize through professional agencies/service provider and Owners would be ready to pay
little extra money for such professional services are the least motivational practices.
 There is an alignment reported on Domestic help is an important aspect in today’s busy life. It is difficult to find and retain
good domestic helpers, Domestic helpers should be organize through professional agencies/service provider and Owners
would be ready to pay little extra money for such professional services.

AREAS IN WHICH HOUSE HELP IS SOUGHT

Clothes
washing, 36%
Baby sitting, sweeping/mop
[VALUE] ping,[VALUE]
Care of elderly
people, 22%

Car washing,
65%
Utensil
washing, 66%
Cooking, 25%

 The above chart describes that the Sweeping/Mopping, Utensil Washing, Car Washing are found in major areas house help
is sought. Cooking, Care of Elderly People, Babysitting, Clothes Washing are found in least areas house help is sought.

 Sweeping/Mopping has reported a difference of opinion between married and unmarried household owners.

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 International Journal of Advance Study and Research Work (2581-5997)/ Volume 3/Issue 10/October 2020

 There is an alignment reported on Utensil Washing, Car Washing, Cooking, Care of Elderly People, Babysitting and
Clothes Washing.

 Sweeping/Mopping, Utensil Washing, Car Washing, Cooking, Care of Elderly People, Babysitting, Clothes Washing has
reported a major difference between others owners as compared to married and unmarried household owners .
Suggestions & recommendation

Based on the research conducted, the following tools will be helpful to motivate the domestic workers.

Salary - Salary for the holidays should be paid to the domestic workers .

Festival - During festivals, the domestic worker should be helped financially and with various gifts that will benefit their
family.

Respectable and fair treatment - The domestic workers should be treat fairly and given the same respect as we enjoy in the
society.

Domestic help is an important aspect in today's busy life -

Central Social Welfare Board should strictly implement some regulations
to safeguard their right and resolve their critical problems.

It is difficult to find and retain good domestic helpers- Organize proper skill development programs for domestic workers.

Apart from the various challenges that a domestic worker faces, uniformed absenteeism, irregular timings, expectation of payment
during leaves are also some of the problems faced by domestic workers. Domestic workers experience exploitative wages and poor
working conditions, and are more vulnerable than employees in conventional workplaces. As the domestic workers are an
unorganized lot, it is recommended to bring them under one roof and request the Government to pass laws to protect their rights and
dignity.
Conclusion
Organizations for domestic workers must be sustained and supported in order to improve their bargaining power, wages, etc.
Domestic workers are the backbone of urban society and form an important part and parcel of our everyday lives. Hence the
treatment meted out to them should be based on humanitarian grounds, with maintaining their dignity. To sort out the insults and
humiliation faced by domestic workers, I strongly recommend a fair law and act will help the society to look at them with solidarity
and then only the dream of being one will ever come into reality.

Bibliography &references

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 International Journal of Advance Study and Research Work (2581-5997)/ Volume 3/Issue 10/October 2020

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