page_title: Domestic worker
section_title: Varieties of domestic workers
hierarchical_section_title: Domestic worker / Varieties of domestic workers
caption_attribution_description: A valet in India, circa 1870. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
context_page_description: A domestic worker is a person who works within an employer's household. The term "domestic service" applies to the equivalent occupational category. In traditional English contexts, such a person was said to be "in service". Domestic helpers perform a variety of household services for an individual or a family, from providing care for children and elderly dependents to housekeeping, including cleaning and household maintenance. Other responsibilities may include cooking, laundry and ironing, shopping for food and other household errands. Such work has always needed to be done but before the Industrial Revolution and the advent of labour saving devices, it was physically much harder.
  Some domestic helpers live within their employer's household. In some cases, the contribution and skill of servants whose work encompassed complex management tasks in large households have been highly valued. However, for the most part, domestic work tends to be demanding and is commonly considered to be undervalued, despite often being necessary. Although legislation protecting domestic workers is in place in many countries, it is often not extensively enforced.
context_section_description: The following is a list of known domestic workers:
  Au pair – A foreign-national domestic assistant working for and living as part of, a host family.
  Amanuensis – A person employed to write or type what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.
  Ayah – A job that is similar to a nanny's.
  Babysitter – A worker who minds the children of someone else.
  Bedder / bedmaker – A worker who makes the beds.
  Between maid – An in-between maid whose duties are half in the reception rooms and half in the kitchen.
  Bodyguard – A worker who protects his employer.
  Boot boy – A young male servant, employed mostly to perform footwear maintenance and minor auxiliary tasks.
  Butler – A senior employee usually found in larger households, almost invariably a man, whose duties traditionally include overseeing the wine cellar, the silverware and some oversight of the other, usually male, servants.
  Chambermaid – A maid whose chief focus is on cleaning and maintaining bedrooms, ensuring fires are lit in fireplaces when needed, and supplying hot water.
  Charwoman (AKA Char) – A female house or office cleaner, usually part-time.
  Chauffeur – A personal driver (for motor vehicles).
  Cleaner – A worker who cleans homes, institutions or commercial premises.
  Cook – This is either a cook who works alone or the head of a team of cooks who work for their employer.
  Dog walker – A worker who walks dogs.
  Footman – A lower-ranking manservant.
  Gardener – A worker who tends to the garden.
  Governess – A woman teacher for children.
  Groundskeeper – A worker who tends to the person's large property.
  Hall boy – The lowest ranking male servant who is usually found only in large households.
  Handyman – A worker who handles household repairs.
  Horse trainer – A worker who trains the horses for those who own them.
  Houseboy – A worker who does personal chores.
  Housekeeper – A housekeeper usually denotes a female senior employee.
  Kitchen maid – A worker who works for the cook.
  Lackey – A runner who may be overworked and underpaid.
  Lady's maid – A woman's personal attendant, helping her with her clothes, shoes, accessories, hair, and cosmetics.
  Laundress – A laundry servant.
  Maid (AKA Housemaid) – Female servants who do the typical duties.
  Majordomo – The senior-most staff member of a very large household or stately home. See also Seneschal.
  Masseur/Masseuse – A servant who performs massages.
  Nanny (AKA nurse) – A woman who takes care of infants and children.
  Nursemaid (AKA Nursery maid) – A maid who oversees the nursery.
  Personal shopper – A person who does the shopping.
  Personal trainer – A worker who trains their employer in fitness, swimming, and sports.
  Pool person – A worker who works by the swimming pool.
  Retainer – A servant, especially one who has been with one family for a long time (chiefly British English).
  Scullery maid – The lowest-ranking of the domestic workers who act as assistants to the kitchen maid.
  Stable boy – A worker who handles the management of the horses and the stables.
  Valet – Known as the "gentleman's gentleman", a valet is responsible for the master's wardrobe and assisting him in dressing, shaving, etc. In the armed forces, some officers have a soldier (in the British army called a batman) for such duties.
  Wet nurse – A nurse who provides suckling for infants if mothers cannot or do not wish to do so themselves.
caption: A valet in India, c. 1870
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