A year after arriving in Hong Kong in 2017, Filipino domestic helper Maria Nemy Lou Rocio took out a HK$25,000 (US$3,200) loan from a local bank to settle her family’s debts and provide for her three children at home.
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The 44-year-old had learned from other domestic workers about how to apply for the loan but said it took more than a year to repay it. With a monthly salary of less than HK$5,000, she was left with little for herself and had to borrow from friends to cover her daily expenses in the city.
“I took up a loan from a bank, thinking that paying back the debt in the Philippines would be a lot easier for me, but then it turned out that it was even harder,” she said.
Like Rocio, many domestic workers in Hong Kong struggle to manage financially and have increasingly been targeted by money lenders.
Advocacy groups have warned of a rising trend in vulnerable helpers being scammed into taking high-interest loans, partly due to their limited financial literacy and money management skills.
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Calls to step up financial education for the city’s about 368,000 domestic workers, mostly from the Philippines and Indonesia, have grown, with more NGOs and businesses joining the effort.