I got the sense that most housekeepers at major brand hotels in Sweden are getting paid much less money than the bank workers at the nearby SEB/Nordea/Handelsbanken/DanskeBank offices. They certainly don’t seem to live at the same lifestyle strata as financial service employees in the same country. And the divergent pay really will show even more whenever they get up to whatever increased retirement age ends up being the order of the day.

Sweden has no statutory minimum wage applicable for workers whom DINK and other couples want for outsourcing household tasks. This can mean the teenagers picking potatoes may get paid 150 SEK/hour during the summer while the middle age Polish housekeeper at a Swedish city center hotel may be getting 100 SEK/hour if working at the hotel but maybe get double that if working in an irregular cash for pay set-up for DINKs and other couples allegedly working 60-80 hours each per week.