Is your maid your family member?
@abhi_bangal (7013)
Ahmednagar, India
July 14, 2025 2:43pm CST
Many people hire the services of maids for daily work. They mostly do almost all and every kind of work their employer ask them to. Some maids even drop their boss's kids in the school and bring them back home. This is apart from the daily chores they do.
Some maids work with some people for years on end, to the point of becoming their family member.
But should maids be seen as a staff only? Or is it ok to see them as a family member? And would doing that be safe?
12 people like this
13 responses
@MarieCoyle (46227)
•
13h
I know people from all walks of life in the US. Very, very few have a maid, especially not daily. Some have what they call housekeepers, that come weekly or bi-weekly to do heavy cleaning, but not many.
Forgive me, but you refer to people being ''master'' of their maids?? It sounds like the stories of people owning slaves and they were their masters...maybe it's just a way of saying you are their boss, or employer? I can't imagine referring to myself as anyone's master, ever.
4 people like this
@abhi_bangal (7013)
• Ahmednagar, India
6h
You are right Marie and thanks for mentioning. "Masters" isn't giving the right feel. I'll correct it. But when I wrote it, the word "boss" or "employer" didn't strike me. "I can't imagine referring to myself as anyone's master, ever." You are kind, as usual.
The culture here is that when we recruit maids here, they call it a maid here, not housekeepers, it is generally for all the daily chores, this includes washing utensils, clothes, and cleaning the house. These are the three common tasks people want to get done from the maids. But one maid may do either one or all three tasks.
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (46227)
•
5h
@abhi_bangal
I just cannot imagine having someone in my home every day, doing what I have always done. But I do know maids and/or housekeepers or cleaning ladies are not cheap here at all. Many of them work for only cash, so they do not have to report their earnings for taxes.
1 person likes this
@abhi_bangal (7013)
• Ahmednagar, India
Just now
@MarieCoyle And they might be expecting you to give them cash only. So that there is no proof of any online transaction as well.
By the way you said these ladies or not cheap. So how much do they generally charge? I am asking this only out of curiosity.
@Vikingswest1 (6806)
• United States
12h
Oh boy. You might want to clarify the master statement. It will draw some people into being offended by its use. They think of slavery when you use "master" instead of boss or employer.
Hahah. I know you didn't mean any harm, people are just overly sensitive in 2025.
In fact, people want to discontinue the term master bedroom in houses here.
3 people like this
@abhi_bangal (7013)
• Ahmednagar, India
6h
Yes my friend. Thanks for the mention. Even @MarieCoyle brought this to notice. I used the word in the Indian context as that particular meaning isn't glued to the word here. On the contrary, a tailor is called master here and that's quite casual.
And again thanks for understanding that I never meant to interpret it that way.
Then what synonym would you be using for that particular bedroom?
1 person likes this
@abhi_bangal (7013)
• Ahmednagar, India
5h
@Vikingswest1 I am getting what you are saying and you're totally right. But what about the mind and the mentality? When one word gets negatively attached to something, then wherever the word appears our mind first goes there to see the negative. Well this is one thing everyone has to address personally. And understand that every word is used differently in different context.
2 people like this
@Vikingswest1 (6806)
• United States
6h
@abhi_bangal
Primary or Grand bedroom.
But that's silly to me. Professionals are called masters once they get credentials that they've mastered their training. Master mechanic, master electrician. Sometimes the word Journeyman is used in some occupations. None of this has anything to do with the question you asked, lol.
2 people like this
@AmbiePam (100422)
• United States
6h
@abhi_bangal The overwhelming majority do it themselves. I started doing chores as a child, and my parents would do what my sister and I couldn’t. It taught us a lot about responsibility. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of us would like to have maids, but we simply cannot afford it.
2 people like this
@abhi_bangal (7013)
• Ahmednagar, India
6h
@AmbiePam When parents allow their children to do daily chores, that shows the upbringing and the values that parents instil in their children. They start getting the feeling of responsibility and the work culture in the house.
Because you mentioned that some people cannot afford maids, that raises my curiosity to ask you (and if you can answer), like how much do maids generally earn if someone were to hire them?
2 people like this
@abhi_bangal (7013)
• Ahmednagar, India
6h
When it comes to recruiting domestic help, it looks like the culture in the US and over here is quite different. People here want such cleaning people to show upon a daily basis and not just once or twice a week.
So if it isn't a regular thing, then do most people do washing utensils, clothes, cleaning the house on their own?
2 people like this
@wolfgirl569 (119225)
• Marion, Ohio
12h
Maids are not a normal thing here. Most of us do our own cleaning and yard work. Gardening also.
2 people like this
@abhi_bangal (7013)
• Ahmednagar, India
6h
That's quite good. If there are working ladies in a house, still they do all these things on their own? Do they find time and the energy to manage all these things - home work and office work too?
@abhi_bangal (7013)
• Ahmednagar, India
6h
Even such things can happen at times. Some people are close towards, probably like your yard helper. But the closeness is only up to a certain limit. Our mind doesn't accept the thing that we should call them our family member.
1 person likes this
@sallypup (65201)
• Centralia, Washington
6h
@abhi_bangal We are close in spirit because my helper feels about plants and the environment like I do. She keeps a distance from my husband and I. I respect that and don't push us on her.
1 person likes this
@abhi_bangal (7013)
• Ahmednagar, India
5h
@sallypup I have grown respect for whoever you are talking about. The most important thing is that she maintains a distance from both of you. When there is distance, there is respect. When the distance decreases, chances are, you can be taken lightly. If you respect each other, only then there will be mutual love and understanding, which I think it's already there.
1 person likes this
@LooeyVille (68)
• United States
11h
I've never had a cleaning person. I would want a professional relationship if they came in once or twice a week. If they lived in-house I'd treat them more like family.
2 people like this
@abhi_bangal (7013)
• Ahmednagar, India
6h
We employee cleaning people only when we feel the need to. Or when there is any function or lots of guests are coming. In such scenarios, there is increased workload compared to the daily work. So such professional help is required on such occasions.
When we really need such help, we contact our regular maids. They have kind of, become our family members. And because they don't show up on a regular basis, the love always remains.
@rsa101 (39085)
• Philippines
10h
That’s so true—many household helpers here in the Philippines end up feeling like part of the family, especially when they’ve been with you for years and even help take care of the kids. It’s just part of our culture to grow close. But nowadays, hiring a helper comes with more requirements—like education standards, health clearances, and making sure they’re covered with benefits like SSS, PhilHealth, and Pag-IBIG. It’s definitely become more formal and a bit harder, but it also helps protect both the helper and the household.
So while it’s okay to treat them like family, it’s also important to set clear boundaries and meet all the proper requirements to keep things fair and safe for everyone.
@abhi_bangal (7013)
• Ahmednagar, India
15m
The maids that come from trustworthy contacts are the best, in my opinion. We trust them who refer maids because we know there's no fake intention of anyone. But these days there are agencies who recruit people for work.
@abhi_bangal (7013)
• Ahmednagar, India
7h
Exactly true. Even we don't treat them as outsiders. They feel a warm bonding towards us and their mentality is always positive.
1 person likes this
@abhi_bangal (7013)
• Ahmednagar, India
6h
@rakski It happens when you are both respecting each other, no matter what your profession is.
@BACONSTRIPSXXX (15396)
• Torrington, Connecticut
13h
When I had maid a few years ago, my wife and I considered her family since she helped us raise our kids and would come with us on family vacations
2 people like this
@abhi_bangal (7013)
• Ahmednagar, India
6h
It is great to know that you took your maid on a family vacation. Not everyone does it. Because you need to spend money on your this "family member", the way you do for your actual family. It needs a great heart and liberal thinking 
@abhi_bangal (7013)
• Ahmednagar, India
13m
Looks like there's a lot of similarities between us when it comes to managing maids and gardeners. It's also usual here to have maids. But most are on a daily basis.
@Traceyjayne (3144)
• United Kingdom
9m
We don’t really have maids here in the UK. Some people hire a cleaner, or gardener ….but they only undertake the job they are employed to do..
If a Nanny is hired they will just see to the needs of the child, but they may live in, so they may become more like one of the family.
1 person likes this
@abhi_bangal (7013)
• Ahmednagar, India
Just now
I think cleaners might be helpful, like once a week. That should be sufficient. It does not even get that dirty to ask the cleaning people to come daily.
Yeah nanny is a different concept altogether. And I don't think anyone might be doing a multi-tasking to the point of giving all the services that we loosely talked here.
@Ineeddentures (10430)
•
12h
I don't know about this
We don't really hire a maid here
Rich people do, but not people like us.
I might be rich but paying a maid here would cost £12 per hour and I would rather be my own maid than spend a fortune paying someone to do what I can do myself
2 people like this
@abhi_bangal (7013)
• Ahmednagar, India
6h
There's a lot of similarity between the thought culture of the middle class families here and what you mentioned. People here call it cost-cutting. If I can do something which is easy and not heavy, I will do it myself instead of paying anyone for it and save money.
Another difference is in the payment culture. Overseas, I have seen the pay is on an hourly basis. If we were to hire a maid here, it would depend on how much work it is and how many days in a month the maid would be coming over. It's a monthly calculation.
