SAGA VOICES
This month we talk…
cleaners
Each month our insight team conducts an in-depth poll of Saga customers to find out what you’re thinking. This month: who cleans your house?
by RACHEL CARLYLE
Retirement comes with many benefits, although the least thrilling would appear to be the ‘opportunity’ to clean your own house. In our survey of 2,800 Saga customers, 19% pay for a cleaner. Of the 81% who don’t, a third used to, but since retiring feel they ought to do it themselves. (Spare a thought for the respondent who said she had to give up the cleaner when her husband retired as he didn’t know they had one.) Of those who do get help – the 19% plus 4% who have unpaid help from family members – the motives vary by age group. The top reason given by the youngest cohort (50-64) was to free up time, whereas for those aged 65-74, the top reason was delightfully honest: that they hated cleaning. Those aged 75+ most often needed help due to physical health. On average, cleaners visited respondents once a week for two hours.