The Inevitable Balance Beam for Domestic Workers’ On Rising Wages

The Inevitable Balance Beam for Domestic Workers' On Rising Wages

Article written by Keisha Luib

Envision yourselves in the shoes of domestic workers, working blood, sweat and tears for the sake of family necessities, a stable livelihood and a policy reinforcement where 2.2 percent increase in Minimum Allowable Wage (MAW) for foreign domestic helpers (FDHs) from HK$4,900 to HK$5,100. This new minimum wage level is reported to be enforced to all FDH contracts signed on or after September 30, 2025.

Would this increase the internal tensions that revolve around the FDH community?

According to the Sun News Hong Kong, the food allowance for domestic helpers not offered free food by their employers are added with additional raises but with the same rate of HK$1,236 per month for the second consecutive year. The biggest alliance of FDH organizations and relevant groups like the Asian Migrants Coordinating Body, did not reject the wage increase, further stating that it was the outcome of “relentless campaigning” of migrant domestic workers’ groups.

As stated in context, they did not achieve their utmost goal of “living wage” of HK$6,172”, which they have been constantly fighting for. With that being stated, this depicts their immense disagreement with their recent petition addressed to the authorities to freeze foreign domestic workers’ minimum wage with the so-called sluggish economy dealt in Hong Kong. Questions also exist on whether or not Hong Kong society should be held responsible for the gradually deteriorating well-being of the domestic helper community.

Even with the comparison back in 2024, the authorities have increased the MAW by 2.5 percent from HK$4,870 to HK$4,990 per month, which by contrasting this estimation, would be about 0.3 of a difference compared to now with 2.2 percent, demonstrating a slight drop on their salaries and wages.

In order to stabilize this daunting and uneven balance beam, a call to action that caters the necessities of our dear migrant workers from the FDH alliances must be emphasized in the midst of this infuriating calamity. Based on source, published by TimeOut Hong Kong, the Quadripartite Alliance for Harmonious Employment Practices (QAHEP) has recently petitioned the city’s Labour Department to freeze the minimum wage for domestic helpers to reflect the abstract circumstance in the economy and conform it with the current economic conditions.

Nevertheless, despite the shift with the economic downturns and unfortunate elements that aggravates the ongoing economy in Hong Kong, domestic helpers are in need of regulations and fixed wage management, which could offer them better wages with their capabilities in being tough and resilient caretakers. It is likewise related to a balance beam, the more we are in harmony as a community, the less governmental agencies are reluctant to hear and apply, and are motivated to act on and listen to the voices of those that uplift the Hong Kong society and facilitate measures which suit this neglected minority of fighters and caretakers.

With these uncertainties and obstacles that a foreign nation has to throw to the community, Full Phils offers Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), majority of them working as domestic helpers, a gleaming chance to shine above and beyond their limits in order to acknowledge their passions and dreams in their holistic development. This offers all Filipinos to see the light at the end of the tunnel and chase after the gem of a greater generation.

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