I ran a fun experiment on Facebook recently by asking people what they paid the person who cleaned their house. This is my status:

I’m interested to know what people are paying the women who come in to clean their houses. I know there has been a lot said about minimum wage vs living wage but just trying to find a ball park figure for someone who only comes one day a week. In light of a conversation I am having with a friend. Anyone able to share?

Having written a few controversial statuses related to money and what people earn and spend recently, I wasn’t sure anyone would respond. But they did. In numbers. And most of it was quite pleasant.

The wages ranged from R130 per day to R450 (which was for once every two weeks) with a friend who also shared how someone he knows pays their lady R5 500 per month (and have paid for her previous and present studies with the hope that she will move on in three years to better employment).

BUT WHAT SHOULD I PAY?

As with most situations in life, there are a number of different factors and it’s not necessarily as simple as just comparing amounts. But I hope that little experiment at least got some of the lower range end of people carefully considering what they are paying the person who cleans up after them.

Nigel Branken wrote an amazing article on it years ago (which you can read over here), in which he looked at the difference between minimum wage and what he called a living wage. It’s the idea of paying someone enough for them to live on, rather than simply paying the least amount you can legally get away with paying.

One of the things that challenged Nigel in the writing of the article was a verse that came out of the Bible in Isaiah 58 (verse 3) that essentially said: “You live with your pleasures while you exploit your workers”.

I have heard some incredible stories through the years of friends of mine who really make an active difference in the life and family of the person who cleans their house, looks after their children, or even works in their garden.

HOW TO DO BETTER

With many of these things, we tend to inherit a system or structure from someone else (ask what our friends are paying the person who cleans their house) instead of really thinking about it. A helpful tool is the Living Wage Calculator which you can find over here.  You can enter what you are paying the person who works for you and as you scroll down you get to input more specifics and gain a better idea of what difference you are making and whether you need to pay more.

I think looking at the money is important, but even before that, it is a good place to start by looking at how we relate to the people that work for us. Do we treat them like human beings? Do we know their name (and if they have an easier-for-us-to-pronounce English name, have we bothered to learn their African name?)? Do we know the make-up of their family and how their children’s schooling is?

We have a long way to go still, but getting it right in our homes is a great way to start. By seriously considering how we pay and treat the people who do so much for us, we can perhaps begin in some small way to look at restitution, reconciliation, and a brighter future for us all.

What do you pay the person who cleans your house? And have you ever had some of these conversations with her? Share some thoughts in the comments below.