Sao Paulo - Post Report Question and Answers

What is the availability and cost of household help, and what types of help are typically employed by expatriates?

Hiring full-time help requires a lot of hoop jumping. Anything over 3 days a week is considered FT. Most dips hire day workers at/around $40-$50/day. - May 2021


Lots of availability. I think people pay about US$50 for a day of work. People frequently have domestic help for cleaning, cooking, and childcare. - Apr 2021


Expect to pay around $180R (US$45) for a half-day of work. No idea about full time costs, but many people hire nannies, etc. - Aug 2019


Household help is very inexpensive. We paid the equivalent of $30 USD for a full day of cleaning and errands. Many friends also employed cooks and nannies which are readily available. - Nov 2017


Pretty cheap and pretty good. USD$50 a day for someone to clean the bejeezus out of your apartment, wash and iron your clothes, etc. Some of them will cook a dish or two if you want and are willing to forgo them spending that time detailing the grout with a toothpick. - Apr 2017


It's usually easy to find good help through word of mouth at the US consulate and rates are reasonable. - Apr 2017


I pay $1000 a month for a nanny and a housekeeper comes once a week for $50 a day (for 8 hours of work). - Jan 2017


Cheap. - Jan 2017


We don't use a domestic employee, but many people hire someone for one day a week. With the exchange rate, it's about US$40 per day. - Aug 2015


It varies, the laws have just changed. Full time help is pretty affordable and very easy to find. (My experience, the average is US$600-$1000 for full time) - Aug 2013


Domestic help is becoming less available and more costly every year. We paid about $320 a month for someone to clean our house and do laundry 2 times a week. That was about average at the time for US expats. - Dec 2012


Widely available but expensive; we pay about US$50 per day for our maid. - Jan 2012


Pretty expensive--about $600 or more a month for full-time help. - Jan 2012


Very reasonable, but most people have had problems with theft. If it is full-time employment, you will pay for limited benefits also. - Jan 2012


I pay R$65 every time my maid comes (about $33 bucks) and she does everything. It"s easy and cheap to find someone to live in and cook and clean, and the same to find someone to live out and do the same. - Oct 2008


I pay US$40 for the maid to spend the day at my place. - Aug 2008


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