Gen Y Most Likely to Hire a Cleaner

It’s official: Generation Y doesn’t like getting their hands dirty with 35% opting to outsource their cleaning rather than getting down and dirty themselves.

As the biggest spenders when it comes to outsourcing their household cleaning, they are 10% more likely to employ a cleaner in the home than their Baby Boomer parents or grandparents, according to new research released by ServiceSeeking.com.au.

And it seems a mortgage isn’t getting in the way of them finding the money to pay, with homeowners digging deeper than renters (28% owners versus 23% renters) to employ a cleaner.

A quarter of Baby Boomers employ a cleaner, with 27% of Gen X forking out so they can skip the home duties.

ServiceSeeking.com.au CEO Jeremy Levitt says the survey is reflective of today’s busy lifestyle and the fact that many people are so time-poor they need to outsource everyday services.

“Gone are the days when only the rich had a cleaner. It’s so commonplace these days that we have more than 11,800 cleaning businesses registered on our site who quoted on 4,588 new cleaning jobs in the last month alone.”

Those living in NSW are the least likely to scrub their kitchens, with one in three outsourcing to a cleaner, while the weather in Victoria is the least gardening-friendly, with 27% opting to get someone else to tend to their yards.

And while gardening might’ve once been considered a retirement hobby, a third of Baby Boomers now hire someone to do their gardening on a regular basis.

One in five respondents spends in excess of $150 a month on their hired help. The majority (49%) spend up to $50 a month, while 4% spend at least $400 a month.

While earning capacity had an impact on services used, at least one in five respondents with a salary of less than $75,000 still employed a house cleaner (19%) or gardener (22%).

If the salary increased to $75,000 – $125,000, the likelihood of having a cleaner rose to 32%, with further jumps to 39% if the salary was up to $200,000 and 43% for those earning more than $200,000.

The results were garnered from a survey of more than 4,000 ServiceSeeking.com.au customers.