Saudi Arabia: Is a housemaid necessary? · Global Voices
Ayesha Saldanha

For many who live in the Gulf, employing a housemaid is a normal part of life. One Saudi blogger who prefers not to has been facing much criticism.
Ahmed Baaboud describes the situation:
ما سبق هو جزء من حوار تكرر كثيراً في الفترة الأخيرة مع أحد زملائي في العمل، هو يرى أنني مخطئ بعدم جلب “شغالة” حتى تساعد زوجتي و تأخذ بالها من بنتي جوري. تفسيري للموضوع هو أن زوجتي لا تعمل و هذا أمر إتفقنا عليه من البداية.. لا عمل ما دام هناك أطفال صغار.. و هى اليوم حامل بالطفل الثاني.. يعني ستظل بعيده عن العمل على الأقل لمدة أربع سنوات قادمة.. و بالتالي مسؤوليات البيت عليها خصوصاً أن البيت ليس كبير و لا يوجد لنا زوار بصورة مكثفة.
The conversation above is one which has been recurring with a colleague at work. He believes that I am wrong in not having a housemaid to help my wife and care for my daughter Joori. My explanation is that my wife doesn't work and that we had agreed on this from the beginning. She will not work as long as we have young children. Today, she is pregnant with our second child. This means she will be out of work for at least four years.. and as such running the house will be her responsibility especially since our house is small and we don't have regular guests.
He continues:
Ahmed explains what his reasons are, and offers a solution to the problem: