this post was submitted on 24 Jun 2025
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Mildly Interesting
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Saudi Arabia has always had a strong chauffeur culture - household staff culture in general, really. When I was living with my parents, they provided a driver for me; then I got married and my husband did the same. I just never felt the need to drive, I guess - and that’s the case for many other Saudi women too. But one big plus of women gaining the right to drive is that now there are female chauffeurs, which makes the whole thing much more comfortable in such a gender-segregated country.
Is this an upper class thing or are chauffeurs so cheap everyone can afford one?
Staff tends to be pretty affordable - much more so than in other countries. But I wouldn’t exactly call that a good thing… cough foreign workers cough. Some of them are mistreated and underpaid, largely because they’re from poorer countries.
I'd expect the vast majority of such workers in the Arab region to be OFW's (Overseas Filipino Workers). They've got such unending dedication and loyalty to their families that they send a very large share of what they earn home, often sacrificing most prospects they have for financial and personal growth for the good of their parents or younger siblings. The remittances from abroad make up about 8% of the country's GDP, which is a staggering amount. This creates a vicious circle of dependence on Filipinos as cheap labour. A sad state of affairs when Filipinos are relatively well-educated, but often become victims of social dumping, simply because of where they're from. They get paid, but are kept in a limbo where it's very difficult to move up in the world. Can't call it slavery, but you can't not call it slavery either. I really hope conditions will improve for workers from developing countries.
Fair enough, I figured as much
That's really interesting. Where I live having staff is exclusively for the very rich. No way an average person could afford it.