The city should expand its insurance system for migrant workers to cover domestic helpers - a large section of the workforce that doesn't have any social insurance to protect their rights at the moment, members of the city's legislative body suggested.
Li Chuanfu, a deputy to the Shanghai People's Congress, said that the turnover rate for domestic helpers in the city is very high. About 40 percent of the domestic helpers, or ayis, quit their jobs within a year and return to their hometowns due to the city's high cost of living.
About one-fifth of the 3 million families living in the city have domestic helpers, and demand is expected to increase by about 250,000 families within the next year.
Currently, there are about 200,000 ayis working in the city, but there is demand for another 70,000.
The shortage is expected to become even worse when many migrants return home to celebrate the Spring Festival with their families.
"One solution is to retain ayis in the city by improving their social welfare," Li said.
Currently, the city has launched a government-initiated accident insurance plan for domestic helpers, which pays off if an ayi is injured or killed on the job. Since most of the household services are based on inter-personal employment relations, ayis are not included in the migrant worker insurance system.
That means they are not entitled to pensions or any other medical insurance except for workplace injuries.