Increasing numbers of Vietnamese people have opted to work as home helps for foreign families as they bring considerable incomes.

Home helps who can communicate in English often get higher payment

Career changing lives

Du, 50, a home helper in Nghi Tam Street, Hanoi, is an experienced assistant to foreign families.

While many people are ashamed of being domestic helpers, Du is proud of what she’s doing.

Being a farmer who had to struggle to live, Dung’s life has been much improved since she acted as home help for foreigners. Now, she’s the owner of a house in Sai Dong Street in Hanoi’s Long Bien District.

“I started to work as a home helper for a foreign family ten years ago. The Vietnamese wife always told me to be as clean as possible as my main duty was to cook their meals.”

She shared that she earned USD400 per month from the job, but several students who are good at English could get double that, excluding bonuses.

“Most of foreign people are quite strict in terms of food hygiene and safety but many of them are generous in spending. My family’s living conditions have gradually improved since I did this job,” she said.

English is important

In order to improve their income, many home helps, including those close to retirement age have decided to attend English classes.

Anna Nguyen, from Hanoi’s Long Bien District, said “We often pay a home help who could not communicate in English USD300 per month as maximum. For those who can talk to us and are good at taking of care the children are paid a minimum USD400 per month, in addition to bonuses.”

Tam, 20, a home help who lives near Dong Xuan Market in Hanoi, said, “One of my friends, a student of English, can earn from VND2-3 million (USD95.80-143.7r) per month by spending from three to four hours a day cleaning houses and playing with a foreign family’s three year-old boy.”

According to Tam, her friend can earn between VND5-6 million (USD239.60-USD287.50) per month by acting as home help for two families during her summer holiday.

“I realised that English was really important for this job in order to communicate with the landlord. I and a middle-aged woman are taking English classes at a foreign language training centre in Hanoi. I decided to spend two months worth of my salary on the course,” she added.