Tuesday March 19th, 2024
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Do Maids Know The Kids They Look After More Than Their Mums?

A new campaign questions whether the nannies who work for affluent families know more about the children they care for than their own mums do...

Staff Writer

You see it everywhere; at every posh Nile-side cafe, every members-only club and suburban compound clubhouse there are sometimes more maids then mums. In countries with cheap labour such as Egypt, it has become very much the norm for parents to hire one or two caretakers for their offspring without considering the consequences of them growing up without the constant care and affection of their actual parents.

A new video made by Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2), a non-profit organisation dedicated to improving conditions for low-wage migrant workers in Singapore, has partnered with Ogilvy & Mather Singapore (O&M) to launch a film and behavioral change campaign. The short video shows interviews with a string of mothers and their nannies, asking them questions about the habits, likes and dislikes of their children showing that often the nannies know more then the mothers, demonstrating the importance of spending quality time with your kids. The campaign centers around the idea that what may help parents to bond with their children more is also a fundamental right - to give workers their day off.

Elements of the advert can be considered just as relevant to upper class Egyptian family dynamics, with thousands of South East Asians and Northern Africans hired to look after children, which can by default, often lead to the creation of a certain amount of distance between parents and their children. Take a look at the video below. Do you think this rift between mom and their kids, caused by round the clock nanny care, applies in Egypt?