Yerevan - Post Report Question and Answers
What is the availability and cost of household help, and what types of help are typically employed by expatriates?
One of the best things about Armenia is the quality household help. Nannies make about 2000 dram per hour which is a good salary for the economy there. We had an amazing nanny and very thorough housekeeper, a gardener, and a driver that took the nanny and my daughter to activities. - Jan 2022
Household help is available, quality varies and tends to be low. Rates are 2,000+ AMD per hour + transportation costs. A full time domestic employee will run about $500-600 a month. Gardeners and drivers are also available, as well as tutors. - Aug 2021
We are a rarity in the Foreign Service and do not employ someone to work inside our home. Domestic help is abundant and inexpensive from what I understand. Though many do not speak English and use only Armenian or Russian. We do have a gardener to take of the fruit trees in the yard. His monthly rate is approximately $80. - May 2021
You can cheaply hire local drivers, which is recommended over the taxi services for safety reasons. Costs run up to 60 USD per week. Likewise, you can pay for household help at a rate of ~3 USD per hour; that rate applies to maids, cooks, and gardeners. - Mar 2017
Domestic help is very reasonable. 5 days a week full day is about US$400-$500 a month. Most people at post get domestic help and in general are very pleased. - Oct 2014
Help is available, it's not that cheap and the quality I'm told is not that great. - Sep 2011
Very available and not too expensive. We pay our nannies/housekeepers approximately $25/day, which is probably on the high end. - Oct 2009
Help is readily available; good help much less so. Word of mouth is important in finding good help, although we found that the help didn't always grasp that expectations and duties would vary, sometimes greatly, between families. Many Embassy families employed a part time gardener (US$60/month), full time nanny/housekeeper (US$300-$500), and part time driver (US$200). Turnover, particularly in gardeners seemed high. I found that Armenian landlords cared more about their fruit trees than about their homes and would have their preferred 'specialist', usually a relative, lined up for an incoming family. Families that required English from their domestics paid more--something like a 20 percent premium on the prices noted above. - Jul 2008
Available and decent. We've been lucky (always check around first and remember, if they've worked for the Brits or Germans first, even better, Americans are way too easy-going on domestic help overseas). We (over)pay at about $4/hour. - Jan 2008
