Nation made lazy by overreliance on maids<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
To guarantee her new housemaid, Lilis, 18, would come back to
\nwork after the Idul Fitri exodus, housewife Fifin Yuliati, 27,
\nhad to shell out more money for Lilis, who earned Rp 300,000
\n(US$30) a month on top of free meals and shelter.<\/p>\n
During the Idul Fitri holiday, however, Fifin had to manage
\nher domestic affairs and her three-month baby herself, while her
\nhusband was not much help.<\/p>\n
Deprived of Lilis, she had to run around the house, from one
\nroom to another, doing laundry to attending to her screaming
\nbaby. When she returned to her washing, she found that she had
\nforgotten to turn off the water so the room was already flooded.<\/p>\n
\"Eventually, I decided to ask my sisters-in-law to help during
\nthe holiday. The deal was I had to buy them Idul Fitri apparel,\"
\nFifin, who lives at Bukit Golf housing complex, Cimanggis, West
\nJava, was quoted as saying by Antara newswire.<\/p>\n
Another family, couple Trisnanu and Nining, with three
\nchildren, adopted a different strategy for Idul Fitri.<\/p>\n
\"I have taught my children to be independent every time our
\nhousemaid goes home for Idul Fitri,\" Nining told Antara.<\/p>\n
She said that, years ago, the children were too young to help
\nher with difficult chores, but now that they were old enough,
\nthey could take them on.<\/p>\n
In developed countries the cost of hiring domestic helpers is
\nhigh; Nining's household management, however, is common practice
\nhere in Indonesia, but her method was unusual.<\/p>\n
\"Lots of job seekers in Indonesia are unskilled -- they cannot
\nfind employment other than in the domestic sector,\" social pundit
\nImam Prasodjo told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
\"The labor supply here is so abundant even middle- and lower-
\nincome bracket families can afford domestic helpers,\" said Imam,
\nwho once studied at Brown University, Rhode Island, U.S. and took
\nhis family there.<\/p>\n
\"It's convenient and cheap and an indulgence to have domestic
\nhelpers -- of course people have then,\" he added.<\/p>\n
When he was in the U.S., his friends were bewildered upon
\nhearing he had a housemaid and a chauffeur at home. They thought
\nImam came from a super-rich family.<\/p>\n
\"I told them it's common in Indonesia to have domestic
\nhelpers,\" he said.<\/p>\n
There is a wide variation in the wages paid to such helpers,
\nranging from Rp 300,000 to Rp 500,000 on top of free shelter and
\nmeals.<\/p>\n
If they are lucky, employers pay for their health care
\nexpenses, retirement fund, training and give them days off.
\nNevertheless, not many housemaids are that lucky.<\/p>\n
With no regulations nor regular monitoring, housemaids are
\nprone to abuse violation of their rights.<\/p>\n
\"It's a dilemma, though. To implement strict regulation of,
\nfor example, the minimum wage, every household generates a
\ndifferent workload, so the appropriate minimum wage would be
\ndifficult to measure,\" Imam said.<\/p>\n
Imam added that when his family was in the U.S. he and his
\nwife, who also studied at university, had to share chores and
\ntake turns tending to their baby.<\/p>\n
\"Because domestic helpers are costly here, people grow
\naccustomed to efficient household management. We cooked simpler
\nfood here and we never ironed clothes,\" Imam said, adding that
\nchicken nuggets saved him much time while in the U.S.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, in Indonesia, it can take at least 40 minutes to
\ncook a relatively simple nasi goreng (fried rice).<\/p>\n
\"The phenomenon of domestic helpers is indicative of the
\nnation's low levels of education. Many people do not even
\ncomplete elementary school, let alone junior high school,\" Imam
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
At the same time, he added, the government did not make an
\neffort to provide jobs for the large numbers of unskilled.<\/p>\n
Left with few other options, the unskilled resort to working
\nas domestic helpers in cities, even seeking work as such abroad.<\/p>\n
\"Spoiled by the ready availability of cheap labor, people
\nhere, of course, don't really bother to run their households
\nefficiently,\" Imam said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/nation-made-lazy-by-overreliance-on-maids-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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