Manama - Post Report Question and Answers
What is the availability and cost of household help, and what types of help are typically employed by expatriates?
Everyone had some sort of domestic help, although it's not as cheap as in Southeast Asia, Africa, or other places. I paid ten Bahraini Dinar (about 27USD) for a half-day. If you want full time, it's obviously going to be more, although if they are live-in then you may not have to pay as much. Also, if you have a full-time employee you will be responsible for their return plane tickets once a year, their work permit, and I believe some sort of social security payments. The Bahraini authorities are pretty strict about this - so keep that in mind. For part-time, you can shop around and find another domestic helper who has a few hours to spare and may save money that way. I was definitely paying more than a lot of people, but my housekeeper was excellent. - Apr 2017
it is cheap and available. Mostly Fillipino or Indian maids/housekeepers. - Sep 2016
Around US$500 a month for full time worker. Very affordable and easy to find. - Nov 2015
Cheap and plentiful. Filipina maids charge about 2BD or US$6 per hour. - Aug 2014
It is easy to find a full-time or part-time helper. It will cost about $400-$475 per month for a full-time, live-in maid (6 days a week, including some evening babysitting). Part-time help costs $5 per hour, so it’s much more expensive to do it that way. The women are predominantly Philipina or Sri Lankan and they speak good English for the most part. They clean, provide some childcare and perhaps even help with a bit of cooking. Quality varies and you will need to interview several people and perhaps even try them out to find a good fit. Though it is easy to find a helper it’s actually quite difficult to find an excellent helper. If you can get a reference from a departing expat, that is ideal. All housemaids are foreign nationals and need visa sponsorship to live in Bahrain. Transferring sponsorship gets complicated, especially if the person has been working for a family that wants to charge a fee for their release. Navigating this process is a hassle but having help in these oversized houses is an incredible perk and can greatly increase the quality of life since we can spend more time with family and friends. - Sep 2012
Widely available and affordable. You can find live-in help (and villas normally come with domestic quarters) for about 120 to 150 Bahraini Dinars/month (about $400) or you can get part time help for 1.5 to 2BD/hour ($5). - Apr 2010
Available and cheap. We have a live-in housekeeper/cook/nanny. She is great and works up to 40 hours a week for $400/month. - Jun 2009
Indian, Phillipino, Pakistan maids are available. Either for day work or for full time. They are not treated fairly and receive very low wages, so on one hand you can get them very cheaply but then it depends on your moral state of mind. - Dec 2008
I pay US$150 a month for someone to clean my villa 3x a week and do my laundry 1x a week. Although I just read below that the person pays that much for a live in! - Aug 2008
