Remuneration and the Welfare of House Helps in Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

House helps propel the global labour industry yet are the most overexploited workers regardless of their complementary and substitution roles in sustainable development. They comprise predominantly marginalized women performing several domestic chores. In Kenya and particularly Nairobi, they face unique challenges as envisaged in the Real Househelps of Kawangware television comedy. Poor remuneration had engendered dwindling welfare domestically and Middle East exodus in search of greener pastures culminating to torture and even death. Thus, this paper examines remuneration and the welfare of house helps in Nairobi, Kenya. It particularly establishes the: job description of; determines the potential risks facing; and examines the welfare of; house helps in Nairobi. The study adopted a cross-sectional descriptive research design. Primary data was obtained from 100 purposively sampled house helps, complemented by secondary data. The study revealed that their amorphous job description of 42 chores comprised thirteen very frequently; nineteen frequently; nine rarely
; and one unethical tasks performed. On average, they worked for 14 hours, commencing at 5.00am in hostile environment. With an average salary of Kshs.6225.40, most (69%) of them earned less than Kshs 7,500 which lay below the legislated minimum wage of Kshs.13,572.90. It was demonstrated that the prevailing chronic house help remuneration and welfare dilemma were a function of the philosophy behind the term ‘help’. Thus, all these atrocities meted on house helps downgraded their welfare hence enforcement of compliance to the labour laws and formalising the occupation were behind schedule in Kenya.