A SURVEY of more than 1,000 Filipino maids has shown they are more satisfied with Western than Chinese employers, because Westerners make them work shorter hours and treat them more as part of the family.
The survey also found that maids preferred to work in Hongkong than in the Middle East or other Asian countries.
Chinese University's senior lecturer in sociology, Dr Cheung Tak-sing, distributed 1,700 questionnaires through four Hongkong churches to see whether Filipino maids thought they were treated differently by Western and Chinese employers.
He based his findings on the 1,015 questionnaires that were returned, and on 50 personal interviews with maids who had worked for both types of employer.
Dr Cheung said about 23 per cent of maids were very satisfied with their Chinese employer, compared with 45 per cent who were very satisfied with their Western employer.
About three-quarters of the maids said Western employers treated them as part of the family, while only one-third said Chinese employers treated them this way. About one-third said Chinese employers treated them as a tool.