Dual-Income and Single-Person Households Increase... Expanding Household and Care Platform Market

Companies like Cheongso Research Institute, Mamsitter, and Miso 'Bloom'

Housekeeper. Asia Economy DB

#Looking for After-School and Care Assistants. Hourly wage 17,000 KRW, 5 days a week, 4 hours each day. Job scope includes picking up children from a daycare center within a 3-minute walk in the apartment complex, preparing snacks and dinner, and bathing the children.

On the 29th of last month, just before the weekend, office worker A (33 years old) posted a job listing on the online platform Danggeun Market seeking an after-school and care assistant for a daycare center near Banpo-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul. The post was viewed by over 1,500 people within a day and received 4 applications. Hiring childcare and housekeeping assistants, which was previously possible only through manpower agencies, word of mouth from acquaintances, bulletin boards, or flyers, is now available on online platforms.

As the number of dual-income and single-person households increases, the number of online housekeeping and care platforms such as ‘Momsitter’, ‘Dandi Helper’, ‘Dolbom Plus’, and ‘Cleaning Lab’ as well as their workers are rapidly growing. According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the number of workers providing housekeeping, cleaning, and care services on online platforms surged by 85.7% from 28,000 at the end of 2021 to 52,000 at the end of last year.

It is interpreted that the related market is expanding as working moms, who are pressed for time balancing childcare and work, and single-person households, who are familiar with smartphones and find cleaning bothersome, frequently call housekeeping and care assistants through mobile apps. Last year, dual-income households exceeded 6 million for the first time. About half of households with spouses are dual-income. The number of single-person households nationwide also surpassed 10 million this year.

Through housekeeping and care platforms, users can utilize services only when needed via ‘split employment’ rather than full-time, which reduces the economic burden for users. According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the cost of live-in full-time housekeeping assistants in Seoul is between 3.5 million and 4.5 million KRW per month.

The growth rate of housekeeping and care platforms is relatively fast. The annual transaction estimate of the childcare platform ‘Momsitter’ reached 260 billion KRW (as of the end of last year), growing fourfold compared to 2022. The revenue of Life Lab, which operates the home cleaning platform ‘Cleaning Lab’, increased by 30% last year compared to 2022.

A representative from Cleaning Lab said, “Housekeeping and care platforms help dual-income households save time and money and enjoy daily life conveniently,” adding, “They can also contribute to solving social issues such as low birth rates, women’s career interruptions, and gender gaps in the labor market.”