A POLITICAL advisory group yesterday issued a proposal calling for the formal regulation of the city’s domestic service industry, in which an estimated 1 million people are currently employed.

　　Across the city, ayi (literally “auntie”) provide a wide range of services — from house cleaning to caring for the elderly — for millions of home- and business-owners. However, the industry lacks any structured operating codes or guidelines.

　　In a document issued to the media, the China Democratic League, one of the eight non-Communist parties in China, said that the industry’s informal structure makes it difficult to protect the interests of either workers or employers.

　　“There are no entrance standards for the industry ... some ayi don’t even have health certificates,” the proposal said.

　　Shanghai has about 730 official domestic service companies representing 130,000 ayi, which is only a fraction of the number of people actually working in the sector, it said.

　　The government should give the domestic service industry “key” status, and include it in its social and economic development plans, the proposal said.

　　This would mean that agencies, employees and employers would be eligible for preferential tax and other policies.

　　The government should also set up a dedicated social security fund for ayi to help them save for their pensions, the proposal said.

　　While agencies find jobs for people in domestic service, they do not employ them directly and therefore have no liability to make social security payments on their behalf.

　　As most ayi in Shanghai are migrant workers, the industry runs into turmoil every year as the Spring Festival approaches.

　　As millions of cleaners, carers and companions return to their hometowns for the holiday, the city’s middle classes are left grasping at straws as they look for ways to care for their young children and elderly parents.