Housekeeping Week is celebrated every second full week in September. This year, it takes place from September 8 to 14. Many are unaware of what it takes to do this job and Housekeepers Week aims to change that. Thousands of businesses come together to highlight the unseen efforts that go into this profession. This has become a way for them to thank, show appreciation, and reward their hard-working staff. Organizations usually give their workers a gift or host a party at the end of the week.
History of Housekeeping Week
Throughout history, housekeeping has been viewed as a woman’s profession and it has been common practice for most middle to upper-class citizens to have housekeepers and maids. Maidens or maids were initially used instead of the housekeeper as the women lived with their employer and rarely ever got married. Very well-to-do families often employed more than one maid and may have had an entire staff of housekeepers, gardeners, drivers, and cooks. The housekeeper would be at the top of the hierarchy and oversee the lady’s maid, parlor maids, and laundry maids.
About 100-years-ago, housekeeping was a very time-consuming task. Chores that we consider simple and quick to complete would often take days because they were so time-consuming they were allocated a whole day of the week to complete. The production of goods like soap, candles, and other detergents was also considered housekeeping. When these tasks were outsourced at the advent of the Industrial Revolution, and women began to work in factories, housekeeping declined and changed to more family-oriented tasks. With the creation of professional housekeeping services and the rise of working-class women, housekeeping personnel are still in high demand. Today, lives are so busy that it is difficult to find time to keep up with household chores, so the need for professional cleaning services has increased in the past several years.
Indeed without housekeepers, diseases would spread, and productivity would decline. That is why we need to celebrate them! Housekeepers Week has been sponsored by Integrated Environment and Health Assessment for almost 41 years and has successfully grown into a week-long celebration each year. Housekeeping is an integral profession — hotels, casinos, restaurants, and other establishments simply cannot do without these services.
Housekeeping Week timeline
Well-off families keep servants and apprentices who contribute to the upkeep and production of goods to sustain a family.
With the introduction of factories, housekeeping becomes more family-related like raising children, cooking, and cleaning.
Housekeeping becomes a feminine role less important than men’s paid labor.
Integrated Environment and Health Assessment, officially set up the Housekeepers Week.
Innovations in technology have led to many labor-saving household appliances which are beneficial to housekeeping.
Housekeeping Week FAQs
What are housekeeping activities?
Housekeeping activities include cleaning, cooking, home maintenance, shopping, and bill keeping.
What is institutional housekeeping?
It is housekeeping that is in places outside the home setting e.g hotels, hospitals, lodges, inns, etc.
What is domestic housekeeping?
It is housekeeping in residential buildings or homes.
Housekeeping Week Activities
Say thank you
Post your appreciation on your personal and company social media channels. Make it meaningful so that these professionals feel appreciated.
Give a gift
If you have a housekeeper buy them a gift as part of this week’s festivities. Let it be something that will be of sentimental value to them.
Provide a mental health day
Let them take the day off to recharge their batteries and avoid burnout. Your housekeeper will surely appreciate this gesture.
Why We Love
There are housekeeping olympics
The housekeepers' Las Vegas Hotels have been in the Housekeeping Olympics for 30 years.
It is a highly stressful job
According to surveys, 77% of executive housekeepers say that their job is stressful.
It’s mostly an unpaid woman’s job
Although more women now work outside the home, many still provide housekeeping services to their homes.
Housekeeping departments in hotels are big
Hotels require a lot of cleaning staff to ensure that their hotels are properly managed.
It’s time-consuming cleaning hotel rooms
It takes 65 minutes to clean a hotel room — inspect, approve, and be open for new guests.
Why We Love Housekeeping Week
It celebrates an underappreciated profession
Housekeeping is a job that isn’t appreciated as much as it should be. This week enables us to recognize its importance.
It educates us about gender inequalities.
It helps create a conversation around the unequal division of housework in daily home life. Let us all be more conscious about pulling our weight.
It is about kindness
Housekeepers Week lets us give back to and say thank you to those who work hard to make our lives comfortable. They are our unseen heroes.
Housekeeping Week dates
| Year | Date | Day |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | September 11 | Sunday |
| 2023 | September 10 | Sunday |
| 2024 | September 8 | Sunday |
| 2025 | September 14 | Sunday |
| 2026 | September 13 | Sunday |
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