There's a ballooning demand for housekeepers in China, as many families in the city have two working parents with little time to take care of the house. But there's no database of housekeepers or way to assess them, Li Qinyu, a commentator in Shanghai-based news site The Paper, pointed out, and that's left families dangerously vulnerable. The country needs a social credit system in the long term, and a background check for housekeepers in the short-term, he argued.
On the morning of June 22, a fire broke out in a luxury apartment in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province in eastern China, which killed a woman and her three children. The home’s housekeeper – a Ms. Mo – is the top suspect, and has been arrested by police.
Mo had previously been ordered by court to repay two separate debts, and gambled in Macau when working in the southern city of Dongguan. The police have yet to discover any link between her record and the fire, but her employers were clearly unaware of it, Li argued.
Given that the number of housekeepers will only go up, the market needs to be standardized. An assessment system for housekeepers should gradually be established, including their career record, warning mechanisms for bad behavior, and recommendation letters by former employers, he argued. That can't be established quickly, but a background check system could, Li concluded.
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