Impact of Housemaids on Social and Emotional Development of Children of Working Mothers in India (Research from The International Journal of Indian Psychology)
The aim of this study was to explore the lived experiences of working mothers whose children are raised by housemaids. For this study four semi-structured interviews were conducted. The sample was collected through purposive sampling technique. After collecting and transcribing the data, Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used for the analysis of data. The research highlighted six superordinate themes that were organized to make a model of experiences of working mothers. The highlighted superordinate themes included were Maid A Necessity, Distribution of responsibilities, Multiple Consequences (Issues of trust, Abuse, Ethical concern, Hygiene issues, Influence on Language, Behavioural Problems, & Social and emotional changes. Implications of the research for educationists and developmental psychologists are discussed.
The trend of hiring housemaids for the children’s upbringing has given rise to several concerns. Housemaids are basically the helpers that perform different duties such as cleaning the home and the most important taking care of the children. The most important question that was addressed in this research was the impact of housemaids on the emotional and social development of children of working mothers. Housemaids can look after the children’s basic needs but they do not take the responsibility for child’s emotional, intellectual and social development. So in this way children may develop disruptive behaviours (Hammeed, 2011).
India is a developing country and also it has a great number of poor people that’s why people usually engage in any work that guarantees money. Domestic worker is one of the professions. The number of domestic workers in India range from official estimates of 4.2 million to unofficial estimates of more than 50 million. Girls and women make up the significant majority of domestic workers. Some are working within the age of 14 or some are working in the age of above 60. The wages that they are earning is not enough for their living in today’s world. Like other developing countries in India the domestic workers are usually belongs to rural areas. The nature of this kind of job is decided by the contract of the servants and the hirers where it is decided that the payment or a salary is less than the load of the work. The work duration depends on the work requirement of the hirer. Some of the domestic servants work for full day while some other servants are paid for few hours’ duty. Some domestic labours are even live in hirers’ house with their families.
First theme: “Maid A Necessity”
Now a days housemaid play a very important role in the lives of a working mother because they think that without housemaids life is impossible. Working mothers in this study reported that there is a trend of hiring housemaids in Indian families. Similarly Roumani (2005) reported in a study that domestic help is an economic benefit to parents for childcare because they also provide some additional work. Some of the working ladies hire the housemaids for taking care of their children because their job hours are very long and they are unable to manage the household responsibilities alone and also they cannot provide enough time to their children. Another main reason of hiring a maid for a child is mother’s exertion. A full time job of mothers usually makes them lazy and exhausted so they hire housemaids as a helping hand. As one of the participants reported that:
”I hire a maid for my child because of my work place load and hectic routine and also I have a lack of family support because nobody in my home is willing to take care of my child so maid is compulsory for me”.
One main reason of hiring a housemaid is that some mothers do not have any family support in taking care of a child. There are many organizations that do not provide the day care facilities so in these cases mothers become helpless and they have to leave their children with the housemaids but under the supervision of any family member. As one of the interviewee stated:
“Working woman do not have time for child care. Now my daughter is almost three years old but she cannot take care of her own self”.
Second Theme: “Distribution of Responsibilities”.
Mothers generally divide the household responsibilities with the housemaid, excluding cooking and washing the clothes, housemaids perform all the work which includes dusting, cleaning the home, doing laundry etc. Similar findings were reported in a study by Ahmed (2011) who said that Emirati mothers dependent on their housemaid for everything from the morning shower of the baby till putting them to bed. Hiring a housemaid is the best option because the private nurseries are expensive. Supervision of a housemaid is also one of the main concerns of working mothers. When the children and housemaids are unmonitored then children are more likely to develop negative behaviours. Participants stated that they leave their children with the housemaids but under the supervision of their in laws, husband and mother. Mothers further reported that they have a fear that their children do not do anything that are dangerous for them such as putting fingers in switches. Participant stated:
“During illness me or my husband take a leave from office for the exclusive care of our child.”
Third Theme: “Multiple Consequences of Hiring a Housemaid”
• Issues of Trust
There are various multiple issues revealed through this study which includes issues of trust, ethical issues, issues of hygiene, sharing of meal and abuse. One of the main themes identified in multiple consequences was “issues of trust”. Participants reported in this study that they do not have an overall trust on housemaid although there are certain points in which housemaids show some loyalty and honesty. They further reported that they do not have any expectations from the housemaid regarding the rearing of a child because the housemaids cannot give motherly treatment to children. A similar finding was reported in an Erickson’s psychosocial stage which is trust vs mistrust. If the child receives the reliable and supportive care from the initial caregiver then that child will develop a sense of trust otherwise the sense of mistrust will lead to the fear and the child will not be able to develop the confidence in the future.
• Ethical concerns
Ethical concerns are always a priority for working mothers. In our society working mothers have to take special care of the young female maids when other maids are male at home. Participants described that they cannot leave their maids alone at home. As one of the participant stated that:
“Ethical concern is one of the main reason of my frustration because my maid have to share the washroom and sitting area with my male maids”
• Abuse
Abuse is also one of the reported issues revealed through this research. Abuse can be verbal and physical. In the absence of mother there is greater chance that a child will face abuse. Sometimes mothers show a fear of abuse and they do not assign the work to housemaids alone. All the participants in this study reported that their children face physical and verbal abuse due to their housemaids. Similar findings were reported in a study said that ninety percent of the abuse cases occur when parents are not involved in caring of their children. These signs indicate that the parents should focus more on the children’s psychological, social and emotional development and they should not assign this duty to their housemaids. Another interesting theme highlighted in this research was the impact of housemaid’s hygiene on the children’s health. As one of the subject stated:
“My daughter’s immune system was badly affected due to the housemaid’s bad hygiene.
Three informants reported that their maids are very neat and clean and they also takes care of their children hygiene so overall they have a good experience with the housemaids regarding the hygienic problems. Sometimes children copy the styles of eating. Similar findings was reported in a study by Tembo (2015) who said that if a child is a toddler then he more likely to be mistreated by the housemaid when the parents of the child are not around. Some housemaids eat the children’s food but the older children can tell the parents about this act.
• Influence of language
Influence of language is also an important theme emerged in this study. Informants in this study reported that the accent of their housemaids is very bad and their children usually copy the accent of their housemaids. Housemaids usually belong to different backgrounds and their way of speaking the words are also different. Similarly when the housemaids are educated and well informed then the influence of language will also be good. Sometimes housemaids are illiterate and they usually speak diverse language such as Punjabi as one of the participant reported that due to the housemaid my daughter used to say “Gaddi” instead of car and “saikal” instead of cycle. Another participant reported that:
“My son usually copy the paindu punjabi accent of my housemaid”. Another mother highlighted that her daughter is now used to say the word “Btameez”, “ Mai thapar marungi” due to the housemaid.
Fourth Theme: Behavioural Problems
The quality of the behavioural development depends on the housemaid’s affection, warmth and response towards the child. Participants in the study reported that when the mother gives the proper attention to child then the child always show affection and express the feelings of happiness. The impact will be positive if the housemaid teaches the good behaviour to child and negative if the housemaid mistreats the child. . Similar findings was reported in a study by Al-Sughair (2015) who said that “parents who give their childcare to their untrained housemaids at a very crucial age should look at the signs of abuse in their children behaviour which includes acting out, mood swings, withdrawn and running away from people.” Observational learning is also an interesting theme that highlighted in this study. As one of the interviewee reported:
“When my housemaid speaks in loud voice my daughter also speaks in a same way and I always tell my maid that please speak slowly”.
A similar finding was reported in a social learning theory by Bandura (1961) who said that children imitate the behaviours of other people.
Fifth Theme: Social and Emotional Changes
Social and emotional changes are also one of the interesting findings revealed through this research. Participants in this study reported that the prolonged separation of a child from a mother sometimes creates emotional distress and in this way the emotional attachment of a child is badly affected. After a long hectic day when mothers return home tiredly and when they are unresponsive to their children then there are more chances that child develops negative emotional behaviour. Working mothers stated in this study also reported that when they are at work their children miss their presence because the mothers believe that they have a strong emotional attachment with their children. As one of the subject stated:
“when I am at office my child usually misses the presence of me because he is strongly attached with me”.
Same findings were presented in an attachment theory by Bowlby (1951) who said that attachment between caregiver and children is very crucial and the children who find secure attachment during the initial years are better able to function properly in the progress of development.
CONCLUSION
This research attempted to gain a deeper understanding about the lived experiences of working mothers whose children are raised by housemaids. The daily life problems and challenges that the mothers face due to the housemaids regarding the rearing of the child were discussed. The positive as well as the negative impact of housemaids on the social and emotional development on the children were analysed. In India housemaids are perceived as a necessity for employed mothers. The main reason behind necessity is that there are no day care facilities available so they have to leave their children at home with the housemaids. Housemaids performed all the duties of the children from giving them a shower till putting them to bed. It was discovered that there are a lot of behavioural problems occur in a child due to the housemaids. Children are also influenced by the language of the housemaids especially when the housemaid belongs to different background. Mother’s close bond with the child positively impact on the children’s emotional development. Positive mother child interaction gives an opportunity to the child to share his feelings and provides better sense regarding socialization. On the other hand, it was found that poor interaction, stress and frustration have a negative impact on children social and emotional development by shattering their self-confidence and adding reluctancy and detachment in their personality.
© The International Journal of Indian Psychology, ISSN 2348-5396 (e)| ISSN: 2349-3429 (p) | 40
