Hiring a housekeeper costs 133 euros more per month

Have a housekeeper working full-time to take care of children or the elderly and doing household chores has become a kind of luxury today. Moreover, this group has been reduced to its lowest levels in the last decade and barely 250,000 Spanish families can afford it, according to data from the Active Population Survey (EPA). The sharp increase in the minimum interprofessional wage (SMI) in recent years and the new regulatory framework applied to this sector since last October, which significantly increased its contributions, increased its cost by 133 euros per month, which means 1,600 euros more per year in 2023, which is an amount that more than doubles, to 4,000 euros, compared to the cost it entailed five years ago.

In particular, hiring a maid for an eight-hour working day, something that many households do to take care of children or an elderly or dependent person, already means a monthly expenditure of 1,537 euros per month, although from this salary the employer can deduct the social security contribution corresponding to the worker and which this year is 80 euros. This means that in 2023, families will spend almost 18,500 euros for this service, which is necessary for many, if they only have it part-time, 9,400 euros.

He pays housekeepers This will happen this year, as will the rest of the nearly 2.5 million workers who receive SMI, from €1,000 to €1,080 divided into 14 payments (€1,260 in 12 monthly instalments), following the recent 8% increase approved by the government. This represents an additional cost of 1,120 euros per year.

most expensive quotes

But to this increase in the minimum legal benefit in Spain (which is the one usually paid to this group) we must add the increase in the prices paid to own a domestic, since the increase in the minimum base results from the increase in SMI, we must add the new contribution system which is in this sector in force since last October and the new mechanism of intergenerational equality (MEI) which came into force in January for the payment of generation pensions baby boom.

Thus, if in January 2022 the employer paid compensation of 237.7 euros per month for his domestic helper, this amount increased to 277.45 euros per month this year (already without the existing 20% ​​bonus), which means an increase of 39, 68 euros per month — according to the calculations of technicians from the Ministry of Finance (Gestha) — which means an addition of almost 500 euros in the last year.

new obligations

The Household employees in October of last year, they launched a new contribution system that practically equalized their rights with other workers of the general regime, because historically they were exposed to great discrimination deprived of the right to unemployment, the rest of social assistance or sick leave, among others. So, now contributions for unemployment and Fogas (a social security fund that takes care of benefits in case of insolvency) are mandatory, both for the employer and for the worker (in the female gender because 95% of them are in the group), which will mean a higher contribution for both, although the Government subsidizes families with 80% of this new quota.

But in addition, the new rule changes the contribution bases for this group, which go from ten classes to eight, raising the minimum quota for working relationships with fewer hours and abolishing the two highest classes. Of course, the state subsidizes all households with a 20% reduction in the business contribution to the contingency contribution, which can rise up to 45% in the case of large families.

Likewise, if it is the law so far exempted employers who worked less than 60 hours per month from the obligation to pay contributions for their employees, The new royal decree abolishes this provision and from January 1, employment and changes in working conditions must be managed by the person who employs, as in other jobs. There is also an end to termination without reason, although the minimum compensation of 12 working days per year with a maximum of six monthly payments is maintained.

Only 7% of households pay a maid

All of these new obligations and the strong cost spiral resulting from the historic minimum wage increase over the past five years have pushed domestic workers to their lowest level of employment since 2012 and barely 6.7% of Spanish households have paid domestic services, according to a recent INE survey.

Just over 375,000 people are registered with social security in the household regime, which is a decrease of almost 10%. EPA data It increases the number of domestic workers to 544,000 by the end of 2022, 120,000 fewer than a decade ago (a drop of more than 18%), of which fewer than 250,000 are full-time. This difference in data also suggests that almost 170,000 women work irregularly.