Kuwait City - Post Report Question and Answers
What is the availability and cost of household help, and what types of help are typically employed by expatriates?
We had a helper come once a week to clean and cook. Cost was very reasonable, and she was very friendly and professional. From what we heard from other families, full-time household helpers, including nannies, are great here. - May 2023
The household help is widely available. People pay between $700 - $2000 for full time help. - May 2023
Household help is available and not to expensive. The going rate for us is 3kd a day for transport + 1.5-2.5 kd an hour. I have heard many people complain while they like their domestic staff, not one of them seems to do deep cleaning. I don't know the going rates for drivers, or lawn care people. - Apr 2022
Help available. Many people hire housekeepers and nannies. - Feb 2020
One hour is between 2kd-3kd (US$7-10). You can hire anyone to do anything here in Kuwait: nanny, housekeeper, driver, staff to the help with serving a party/bartenders, car washer, or dog walker. Live-in help and live-out help. - Nov 2018
Very available, with most help coming from South Asia or the Philippines. They all prefer to work for Americans because we treat them much better. Kuwaitis pay about 400 per month for 6 days/week and a live-in, while we pay 650 for live in and 5 days per week and we provide all food, a month's vacation per year and a round trip ticket to their countries of origin. - May 2017
Local household help is about 2 Kuwaiti Dinar per hour (aprox 7 USD). Most domestic help is from India, Sri Lanka or the Philippines. They require a "sponsor" to be in the country, which can be a diplomat. A typical contract includes a month of vacation and a trip to their home country in addition to other benefits. Many human rights abuses occur in this country with household help. Please be a responsible employer. - Mar 2017
Many expatriates hire housekeepers or nannies, especially from India, occasionally the Philippines. Cost includes sponsoring visa, inexpensive insurance, money set aside for a return ticket home should they be separated, an annual 30 days of paid leave, and end-of-service benefit of one month a year at the end of the contract, and salary. Kuwait recently passed a minimum wage for domestics, beyond that salary is negotiable based on language skill, experience, whether they cook in addition to other duties. Employers should have a written contract to protect both employee and employer.
Kuwait has recently passed the first laws in the Gulf countries to protect domestic workers. Of course, we should treat people with dignity and respect because it's the right thing to do, but it is now also the law. - Aug 2016
Readily available and pretty affordable. Average part-time help is 2kd an hour. - Jun 2015
Widely available. Treat them well though as many Kuwaitis don't. Average cost for a full-time, live out maid/nanny is about US$600/mo. - Mar 2015
Reasonable. 4-5 per hour for temporary workers. Slightly lower for poor English, higher for good English. - Dec 2013
Easily available but not inexpensive. While local law permits hiring of domestic employees for $180 per month, most U.S. Embassy staff pay well beyond that ($500 per month). - May 2013
Again, pay the extra amount and have a clear conscience. You may determine, as we did, that you really don't want a full-time, live-in. After trying that, we found that a once-a-week cleaning is really all we need. If both parents (assuming you have kids) work, then you will find the situation here virtually ideal. - Feb 2013
US$7.50 an hour is the going rate for part-time help. If you want a live-in, rates are negotiable based upon what you want to be done and the size of your house. An estimate for live-in would be 400-600 USD a month. - Jan 2013
Highly available. Many people have live-in help and pay them around $400 USD a month. Part time help runs approx. $3-$4 an hour. Most from the Phillipines, Sri Lanka and India. - May 2012
Domestic help is readily available here. Price ranges from a very low end of 60-80KD per month (Kuwaitis pay their help very little) to a more reasonable price of 110-160KD per month (generally expats pay theirs better -- at the embassy we are encouraged to pay a more reasonable price then the Kuwaitis pay their help). Price varies depending on whether or not your help is full-time live-in, or full-time live-out, or part-time. Generally, part-time is 2KD per hour. - May 2012
Filipinos are the most educated, and therefore the most expensive. They tend to speak the best English. Most ex-pats tend to have Sri-Lankan domestic help. They tend to cost go from 7-10KD per week. - Jan 2012
Lots of Sri Lankans/Filipinos/Indians/Ethiopians/Indoneasans. The rates vary, but average price is about $400 a month for a live-in. More expensive if they live out. Unfortunately Americans/Brits are charged nearly double what the locals pay for agency fees. - Jul 2010
Domestic help is available and can cost from $300 a month for a live-in to $500 and up for a non-live-in. - Jul 2010
Plenty of help available, many Embassy folks employ maids who are always looking for new clients, so ask around. I think I was paying about $7 an hour and my maid came for about 10 hours a week. - Jul 2008
Domestic help is easy to find. Expect to pay US$6-10 an hour for part-time help. About US$450 a month for live-in. - Jun 2008
