Ambitious parents fuel demand for English-speaking nannies
Print Edition
Professional, efficient, well-educated and fluent in English are some of the factors that conspire to make Filipino maids sought-after the world over.
In China however, foreigners were banned from taking low-end jobs such as housekeeping until 2016, when, in an effort to make overseas scientists to stay longer and support the city鈥檚 plan to build a global technology innovation center, Shanghai allowed some foreign experts to employ one foreign domestic worker.
US citizen Erin Tsai is a mother of three. She already has two Chinese domestics, but she is looking for a Filipino maid to help out.
鈥淚 was raised by Filipino maids. They did everything, from taking care of me, to cleaning and cooking,鈥 she said.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 find a Chinese domestic who can deal with so many things by herself.鈥
On Sunday, Tsai went to CC Shanghai Ayi Agency, one of the city鈥檚 biggest housekeeping companies offering services for foreigners. She interviewed five prospective employees by video call and appears to have found the perfect candidate.
鈥淪he鈥檚 young and single with a college degree. She has worked as a domestic helper in the Middle East for seven years,鈥 Tsai said. 鈥淪he had taken care of seven children for a family, and at the same time she also dealt with other housekeeping affairs.鈥
According to the agency鈥檚 Xu Jun, there are about 1,000 Filipino maids with working visas and residence permits in Shanghai, but not all of them are licensed maids.
鈥淧reviously, the city had very few legal Filipino maids as the requirements for hirers were very high, but now, more have come to the city,鈥 she said. 鈥淏ut in fact, the policy only benefits those who make considerable economic contributions to the country.鈥
If a Filipino maid comes to the country legally, it will be noted on her residence permit that she comes to do domestic service. However, some foreign hirers bypass the law and recruit maids by falsely claiming that they work for companies. Indeed, they work and stay in China quasi-legally, while working illegally as maids at home.
鈥淭hey are also illegal, but at least the authorities have their real information and can track them down,鈥 Xu said. 鈥淢any more of Filipino maids remain in the country completely illegally.鈥
Zhang Baoxia, from Shanghai housekeeping service industry association, estimates that there are many thousands of Filipino maids without work visas and residence permits in Shanghai. Xu said many of them work as maids with overstayed tourist visas.
鈥淪ome come from Hong Kong and just don鈥檛 want to come back because of the high salaries. Here in Shanghai they can earn 8,000 yuan (US$1,170) per month but the monthly salary in Hong Kong is just around HK$4,000 (US$510),鈥 she said.
In recent years, local governments have acted against Filipino maids without working visas.
鈥淭hey can be easily tracked when they are with their employers and take planes or check into hotels.
鈥淥ne of my clients told me that an illegal Filipino maid at her friend鈥檚 home was repatriated after a hotel reported her to the police,鈥 Xu said.
Many families want Filipino maids to give their kids a boost in English and would like the policy to be further eased.
Grace Zhang, mother of a 9-year-old boy, said: 鈥淚鈥檇 like to have a Filipino maid because I鈥檝e heard that they are super professional and I want my son to speak English with her.鈥
She added, 鈥淚鈥檝e asked local housekeeping companies and learnt that a legal Filipino maid costs an average of 10,000 yuan per month. It鈥檚 not so expensive. Chinese domestic workers who don鈥檛 do a very good job charge 40 yuan per hour.鈥
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