5 Ways to Make Your Domestic Help’s Life Better

They cook and clean, wash and scrub. They loom in the backyard doing odd jobs for you and look after your kids while you are away at work. They could be your maids, your nannies, your gardeners, your drivers or your guards. And there are 40 million of them in India alone!

Your domestic help shares your responsibilities and eases your burden of doing difficult household chores, but rarely are they given credit for it. Moreover, many of them remain underpaid and overworked.

They need to not only be treated with dignity and respect, but also be rewarded and appreciated for their work. Apart from that it is our moral duty to ensure their wellbeing and take measures to make their life better in any way we can.

So if you’re among those who care about your domestic help and want to repay them for the good meals and safe driving, here are a few ways in which you can make their lives better!

1. Help them open a Bank Account

This may not seem like a big deal, but it is infact, the first step towards your domestic help having a secure financial future. Most of the poor folk do not realize the benefits and importance of a bank account and are often terrified by the idea of dealing with bank.

You can educate them about the various benefits and dispel all myths and fears they have regarding bank accounts. Programs like the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) Savings Account can help your domestic help have a bank account too. Such zero balance savings accounts also provide facilities like an ATM card and an overdraft facility after 6 months and it includes very less documentation. You can inform them about such schemes made by the government.

2. Encourage them to save for retirement

Most of the people who work as domestic help come from very poor and economically backward backgrounds. Their earnings are limited and they can barely make ends meet.

And as such, they find "saving" an impossible task. But you can get them to contribute as low as Rs.100 a month towards pension and Rs.135-350 annually for a five-year insurance cover. Giftapension.com is an online platform that enables you to open a pension account for your domestic help. Once the account is made the contributions made through this website are directed towards the government’s national pension scheme (NPS). This way your domestic help can make financial provisions for his/her retirement and lead a dignified life even after they stop working.

3. Inform them about available training and education options

A majority of those who work as domestic help are semi-literate and uneducated. They have little or no training and rely solely on self-taught skills. Most of them cannot bear the expenses of a proper education and hence give up on the idea itself.

But with government plans like Skill India, even people belonging to the below poverty level population can attain vocational training and increase their level of employability.

Encourage them to send their children to school and college. This is the most powerful way to make a difference in your domestic worker’s life and enable their family to move to a better social class and have higher earning potential.

4. Use the internet to make your domestic help’s life better

The global network that the internet provides, makes it the perfect place to find ways to help your domestic worker.

• Certain websites and apps have already been created that cater specially to people engaged in domestic work. One instance could be the Indian origin platform mydidi.in. A platform focussed solely on house maids. The organization trains all the women they hire – not only for cleaning services but also in interpersonal skills and pays them a fixed income, even if they don’t get a single order for the entire month.

• Crowdfund for them- Crowdfunding is a financial innovation that is slowly gaining momentum in India. Through crowdfunding websites like Impact Guru you could create fundraising campaigns for specific needs of your domestic help like their children’s education or their child’s wedding. Or you could raise money to simply provide them with funds so that they can lead better lives.

5. Inform them about government provisions regarding health and welfare

The government has created many schemes and programs to aid the poor and the underprivileged. However the problem lies with the fact that most people are either unaware of them or have many incorrect preconceptions about them.

Healthcare schemes like the Rajeev Gandhi Jeevandayee Arogya Yojana which facilitate free quality critical medical care are created especially for low-income families.

Free and subsidized household provisions and supplies are also provided by the government that can be enabled using the ration card. For instance fixed quantities of food items like rice, dal, sugar, oil and kerosene are provided to those with a yellow ration card (for families having annual income up to Rs. 15,000/-) in designated ration centres.

There are many more such governmental provisions that could help your domestic worker and you can educate them about those provisions to make their lives better.

It’s time we give back to those who have been giving us their time, effort and most of all their love and loyalty. We can do a lot more if we want to genuinely help our domestic workers, but these can definitely be your starting point!