"Looking for Someone to Clean for 30,000 Won" Millennials and Gen Z Turn to Paid Services as They Lack Energy for Chores After Work

80% Surge in Studio Cleaning Requests
Frequent Posts Seeking Cleaning Part-Timers
But Disputes Between Companies and Customers Continue

Office worker A (age 33) uses a cleaning service twice a month. Not only does the service cover cleaning the floors, kitchen, and bathroom, but it also takes care of recycling and food waste disposal. A said, "At first, I hesitated at the thought of someone else cleaning my home, but once I tried the service, everything was much tidier and I felt at ease. Spending money on cleaning is a rational choice that saves my time and energy."

Image related to cleaning requests by Millennials and Gen Z. ChatGPT

Recently, there has been a rapid increase in Millennials & Gen Z paying for someone else to clean their personal spaces. As busy schedules and accumulated fatigue leave less time to clean themselves, the culture of outsourcing household chores is spreading. However, there are growing concerns about disputes over responsibility for damage to appliances or furniture, as well as the unclear identities of cleaning helpers.

According to the cleaning service company Cleaning Lab on November 12, as of last month, 45% of users were in their 20s and 30s. This is a 5 percentage point increase compared to the same period last year. In addition, the number of cleaning requests for studio apartments-where single-person households in their 20s and 30s mainly live-surged by 80% year-on-year.

On online communities, posts such as "Looking for someone to clean my studio apartment for 30,000 won" and "Seeking someone for dishwashing and laundry part-time jobs" are appearing one after another. One user wrote, "My studio is such a mess that I'm looking for a woman to help me clean. Tasks include cleaning the bathroom, doing the dishes, and sorting out the trash. I will provide a small compensation for your effort."

However, as the use of cleaning services increases, disputes between companies and customers are also on the rise. Typical cases involve damage to appliances, furniture, or household items, raising concerns about service quality. B (age 39) said, "After hiring a cleaning service, I found scratches on my furniture. When I complained, the company avoided responsibility, saying 'the damage might have already existed,' which was absurd."

In the case of cleaning intermediary platforms, there are also concerns about the unclear identities of cleaning helpers. The terms and conditions of one such platform explicitly state, "We do not guarantee the identity of members (cleaning helpers)."

There have also been bizarre complaints. According to the Korea Consumer Agency, one user demanded compensation, claiming "the cleaner transmitted a cold virus," but the agency determined that a causal relationship was difficult to prove. The company responded by offering two free sterilization and disinfection services worth 300,000 won.

This trend of outsourcing household chores is met with both positive evaluations-as a rational consumption that saves time and energy-and concerns about the tendency to delegate even basic tidying to others. Regarding this, Heo Changdeok, professor of sociology at Yeungnam University, said, "Young people use cleaning services not because they are lazy, but because the nature of work has changed. In modern society, where most of the day is spent at work or outside, outsourcing household chores can be a natural trend."