GloPos0.04 - Analysis of the GloPos Foreign Domestic Worker Survey

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Analysis of the GloPos Foreign Domestic Worker Survey
Conducted with a sample group of 71 VJC students, May 2003.

by Jayson Joseph Paulose

Most of the students indicated that they conversed with their maids at least some of the time, and quite a number (over 40%) felt they did so often. These numbers alone paint quite a positive picture of the relationship between teenagers and maids in their household. However, the overall response to this query differed significantly with gender – only about a quarter of the male students surveyed communicated with their maids often (and another quarter rarely did so) as opposed to over half of the female students. A male respondent we spoke to said that he used to talk more frequently to the maid previously employed by his family as she had been around since he was very young; he didn’t feel as comfortable talking to the current maid who came in just a few months ago. Other students mentioned their increasing workload and corresponding reduction in free time as a reason for not talking to their maids very often.

Unfortunately, the picture is marred by the results to another question on the survey: when asked what they would do when their maid seemed to be upset or sad, 89% of the respondents (63 out of 71 students) replied that they would be bothered by the fact, but only 30 students out of these 63 stated that they would ask the maid what was wrong. Considering the fact that over 60 of the 71 students surveyed indicated that they conversed with their maid ‘sometimes’ or ‘often’, it is quite worrying, though perhaps not surprising, that so few students are comfortable with asking their maids about their problems even though they talk about everyday things.

The vast majority of students’ families invite their maids to family functions and dinner outings some or most of the time, which could hint at acceptance of the maid as more than just a servant in the household. Most of the students felt that the maid deserved to join in these family events. But almost 20% of the students observed that the maid was brought along simply to look after the younger children in such cases, and she would not take part in the function as the rest of the household did.

In order to gauge the students’ perception of the maids, survey respondents were asked which of the four they would consider their maid to be: a servant, a helper, a member of the household or a necessary burden. By definition, domestic workers are servants; yet, a large number of students (58 out of 71) chose to describe their maids as ‘helpers’, and 25 even felt they were members of the household (multiple responses were allowed for the question). When we asked a respondent why he chose to use the word ‘helper’ over ‘servant’, he said that the latter word had a negative connotation attached to it; that it conjured up images of coercion and slavery, and implied a lack of concern for the welfare of the maid. Another participant put it this way: “You order a servant, but you ask a helper.” This is a positive sign that most of the students recognize the prominent role the maid has to play in the family, and that the relationship of the family with the maid ought to be more than one of employer and employee.

Only five of the 71 students surveyed explicitly declared that they do not ever notice how their maids are treated. This implies that the other students have at least a notional conception of the rights to fair treatment. Of the remaining 66, around 30% felt their maids were always treated fairly, but over 60% noticed some instances of unfair treatment of maids by their family members. Four students indicated that they often witnessed such instances.

Most of the students we spoke to related similar examples of what they considered unfair treatment of the maid: not allowing her to go out alone on weekends; scolding her for trivial reasons; giving her too many things to do in too little time. At such times, students who are concerned about their maid’s welfare find themselves in an uncomfortable situation, because they feel like putting in a word on the maid’s behalf, yet are unwilling to blame their parents. One student said that she wouldn’t dare to question her parents’ actions in the presence of the maid, but she would sometimes approach her mother after the incident and explain to her why she felt the parents were not very fair to the maid.