The switch will save the 37-year-old mother of three $600 a month.
Consumers like her have given a boost to maid service companies. A Straits Times check found five enjoying up to 42 per cent more business in the last three months.
Typically, they are engaged for general house cleaning and household chores like ironing.
Spick and Span International in Suntec City now has about 270 clients a month, up from 190 three months ago. About six in 10 of its new clients have turned to it for part-time maids upon dropping their full-time ones, said owner Sherin Gill, 29.
She said: 'Clients say they are doing it to save money. We did not expect such a surge... in fact, we thought we would be doomed during the recession.'
Another company, A-team Ah Mahs and Cleaners, has had 10 per cent more business this month compared to the last.
People are making do with basic help, said company director Jean Ng, adding: 'They realise they may not need someone to help them around the clock.'
The estimated cost of a full-time maid is $800 a month, including her food, lodging and clothing; hiring a part-time cleaner for four hours a week costs just about a third of that.
Ms Wee is a case in point. She used to pay $850 a month for a full-time maid. She now pays $250 a month for someone to iron, change the sheets and scrub down the toilets once a week.
She said: 'When my husband lost money in stocks, we decided to cut down on big expenses. The maid was the first to go.'
This article was first published in The Straits Times on November 26, 2008.
