UK: Upstairs, Downstairs Britain is back. Welcome to Serfdom, Debt Slaves! !

Times are tough but, despite the squeeze on their finances, millions of families won’t give up their paid help. Whether it’s because mothers are being forced back to work, or fathers are doing more hours in the hope of clinging to their jobs, home helps are apparently as necessary as ever.

According to Churchill Insurance, which surveyed 2,000 families, more than one in ten pay for nannies, cleaners, gardeners, handymen and other forms of domestic help. A Churchill spokesman said: ‘Hired help is the new status symbol for middle England.’ Almost a third say they need the hired help because they are working so hard and don’t have time to complete the tasks themselves. 

The proportion who are too busy with work and other tasks rises to almost one in two – 48 per cent – of those aged 18-34. Around two-thirds of those with paid help have a cleaner at least once a week, while gardeners are just as popular. Around one million Britons employ a handyman to carry out basic DIY tasks, while a further 500,000 admit to hiring someone to help out with laundry and ironing.

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