Consumers seek better household services

BEIJING: Busy lifestyles and an ageing population have boosted China’s household services market, but a survey published by the China Youth Daily found that customers are not satisfied.

The survey polled 1,964 people who had purchased household services across the country.

Some 52% of the respondents said the domestic helpers they hired earned better salaries than them.

“My friend hired a maternity matron for 12,000 yuan (RM7,350) per month,” said Zhang Xiao, a teacher in Beijing. “It is already a bargain as far as I know.”

The average annual income of Beijing residents was 92,477 yuan (RM56,670) in 2016, according to the latest survey by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics.

Some 78.9% of the respondents said the household services they purchased were unprofessional and cited the poor skills, work ethic and hygiene of the domestic helpers.

“Many domestic workers are untrained and professional workers are still scarce,” said Ma Yanhua, manager of a household services company based in Tianjin.

The lack of a regulator was cited by 57.2% of the respondents as a major reason for the problems in the industry. Many said weak supervision of the market and poor management of service providers were to blame.

Additionally, 61.4% of respondents called for the establishment of industry standards and rules, including stricter and more specific criteria for the job.

“Domestic workers should have more professional training so that they can acquire the skill set needed,” said Ma.