Sunday, December 16, 2007 How we treat our maids nowadays By Nicole Louise M. Manto Sacred Heart School-Jesuit
THE minimum wage of an ordinary worker in the country is at P 5,500 a month. Also, they have at least day-off in a week. A worker is required to work for eight hours a day. More than that, overtime pay is given.
But, I wonder how different our house helpers are from an ordinary worker? Let’s compare their pay to an average worker who gets paid the minimum wage.
For those who have house helpers at home, how much do you pay them per month? Let me guess-- P1,500, P2,000 or P2,500? Why do our helpers get a salary lower than that of an average worker? Furthermore, these maids rarely have any days-off. They work 24/7—and they only get as much as P 2,500 in exchange for the hard work they’re doing to make our lives more comfortable and easier! I don’t think they deserve it.
Our maids are working very hard to make our lives cozier. They do most, if not all, of the chores in the house. It is us who burden them with different kinds of errands. Aren’t our helpers like the other workers, too? Of course they are! Then why do we give them a pay even lower than the minimum pay of an ordinary worker? An ordinary worker is only obliged to work for eight hours and always have a day-off but their salary is way bigger than a maid’s, who works everyday and almost never has any day-off. That’s what I really don’t understand.
Some people who own pets even spend more for their pets’ food compared to a maid’s salary. I mean – a dog’s food is so expensive, and imagine how much a dog would consume in one month! My best friend even spends an average of P4,000 in a month just for her dog!
Does this mean that dogs are more important than our house helpers? Our helpers are scrubbing/mopping the floor, doing the laundry, ironing our clothes with sweat while we play and add burden to them.
Don’t you think we are abusing them? If our yayas are around, we become too dependent on them that we don’t know how to do things on our own. Why can’t we prepare our things by ourselves? Why can’t we get our snacks and mix juice by ourselves?
My point is to help them. I want them to have a good life with their own families. How do you think would they be able to feed their families with the amount they’re getting every month? Each and every one of us who have helpers at home are being served and we must give them what they deserve. As for us, children, the best thing we can do to pay them back is to give them our LOVE and most of all, our RESPECT. Let us try to lessen their work by helping them with the daily chores and treat them as members of the family.
