Antananarivo - Post Report Question and Answers
What is the availability and cost of household help, and what types of help are typically employed by expatriates?
Easily available but important to verify with references. Had a very bad experience (a lot of money stolen), followed by very good experience. - Jul 2020
In our experience, household help is relatively highly-skilled and inexpensive. Nannies, drivers, and housekeepers all earn between about $100 and $200 per month. - Mar 2017
Cheap and plentiful--the usual range. Many expats have housekeepers, gardeners, some have cooks at least part-time, those with younger kids employ nannies. Many people have a driver too, though the needs for that might diminish after you have been here a while. It often seems like these employees come with the house or vehicle. Not all speak English... so best work on your French language employer skills! - Jun 2016
Quite inexpensive. We pay our household help beyond the top of the local scale and it's still very affordable. Among the local household help community, the Americans are the expat employers of choice because we pay very well and are "nice". - Oct 2015
Domestic help is readily available and extremely affordable. This is a very, very poor country and even if you're paying your staff at the top of the local income scale, the pay is well below what you would be used to paying almost anywhere else in the world. There is a sizable Malagasy nanny/maid community that works primarily with Americans. They tend to be kind (loving with children) and warm-hearted. Many of them speak English, but if you have some basic French it's an advantage. - Apr 2013
Household help is very good and very inexpensive. I pay about $60 for part-time help. Maids often cook as well. In my experience, they are very reliable, hard working, and a true asset. - Apr 2010
Good. Househelp around 100 Euros a month. The american families tend to pay more than the francophone families - maybe due to the fact that the help speaks English. - Dec 2008
