Sunday, Jul 06, 2014
Dubai: Families who have maids in the UAE admit they will have a hard time living without them but some of them said they will learn to adjust once there is no one to hire.
Employing new maids directly from the Philippines has become tougher because of conflicting employment policies between the UAE and the Philippines. No new maids have been deployed since June. This has contributed to a shortage of maids since there is already an existing deployment ban on maids from Ethiopia and Indonesia.
Jordanian expatriate Yousuf Al Hamad, who employs one maid, believes the UAE government will find alternative sources of housemaids to augment the shortage in supply.
“The culture is a little bit different here. The culture is to rely on housemaids,” Al Hamad told Gulf News.
A report about the status of domestic workers worldwide published in 2013 by the International Labour Organisation confirmed this in its findings but put it more bluntly. It said hiring domestic workers “has become extremely common in several countries in the Middle East and is often a symbol of social status”.
Essan Rashid Hassan Buhannad, an Emirati father of three, said he cannot imagine life without domestic help. He himself grew up with an army of maids. But he said that was only when his mother had already given birth to all seven of them.
“Before, our mother used to cook and then work at home even when she was pregnant. I don’t know why Emirati women can’t do it nowadays,” Buhannad, who currently employs two maids, said.
“Emiratis living in this day and age can’t live without housemaids. The women would say, ‘We’re working, we cannot cook. We are tired.”
Buhannad said having no maids at home could cause marital problems.
“When you come home and the kids have not taken a bath, or the house is not clean, the husband and wife will fight for sure. It will be a bit of an issue,” Buhannad said.
For Aya Hamam, having house help makes life convenient.
“Having maids around is much easier than having to prepare everything by yourself,” Aya, 23, told Gulf News.
Aya said they have two maids, including one who has been with the family for 17 years now. But she said they don’t depend on them for everything. One maid is assigned to cook while the other is assigned to clean their four-bedroom, two-storey villa.
“If they need help, we help them. My mum, even if she has two maids, helps them. In our case, we were pampered when we were young but we were trained to use the vacuum cleaner or clean our rooms while growing up,” Aya said, adding while she can clean the house, she doesn’t know how to cook so she’ll just order food from oustide.
Al Hamad said if the time comes when no house help is available, his family will try to manage. He is sure others will as well.
“Gradually, a new culture will develop and it might be for the better. It is possible that maybe this shortage of maids will have a positive effect and lead to a society that is [less dependent on maids],” Al Hamad said.
“But in order for that to happen there should be options for people like daycare and cleaning services available.”
By Janice Ponce de Leon Staff Reporter
Gulf News 2014. All rights reserved.
