In Kuiwen District, in Weifang, a city in East China's Shandong Province, many women like "going to the fair." However, they are not going to the fair to buy daily necessities, but to find jobs and/or providers of services. 

To meet residents' needs for various domestic services, Kuiwen Women's Federation has strengthened the building of women's domestic-service stations and organized domestic-service fairs in communities. 

In fact, women's federations, at all levels in Shandong, have strengthened domestic services throughout the province, meeting people's various needs, such as cooking, cleaning and the care of infants, young children, and the elderly. That, in turn, has enhanced the sense of fulfillment and happiness of families. 

Since 2022, when Shandong Women's Federation launched its action to deliver women's domestic services to urban and rural communities, more than 6,000 activities, including publicity activities, skills training, recruitment fairs and volunteer-service activities, have been held throughout the province. Those activities have benefited approximately 240,000 women and their families. 

The vigorous development of the domestic-service industry in Shandong has created employment opportunities for rural women. In turn, women have increased their incomes, by providing domestic services, and residents have been able to enjoy convenient domestic services without having to leave their communities. 

A women's domestic-service matrix has evolved in Shandong, guided by the Shandong Sisters brand and supported by more than 300 domestic-service providers, such as Sunshine Sisters and Yimeng Sisters. 

More than 2 million women now work in the province's domestic-service sector, and they provide services to more than 3 million households. The domestic-service matrix has helped expand employment, promote consumption, improve people's livelihoods, and boost rural revitalization. 

To enable more women to achieve their dreams in the domestic-service sector, women's federations have explored ways of improving and expanding women's domestic services. The federations have also guided domestic-service institutions to provide diverse and specialized services in communities. 

For example, Dezhou Love Home Community Service Center has been offering home-based care of children and the elderly, care of people with disabilities, and various other volunteer-based services. 

Jinan Huixin Huizuo Domestic Service Company has helped develop various products, such as pastries, clean vegetables, and handicrafts, to meet the needs of residents. It has also been providing more than 10 kinds of thoughtful community services, including matchmaking and accompanying patients when they see a doctor. 

Women's federations have created comprehensive domestic-service complexes, which have integrated women's domestic-service parks, domestic-service enterprises, and community-service stations to provide integrated services, such as domestic services, domestic training, domestic employment, and entrepreneurship incubation. Weifang is a prime example. A 7,640-square-meter domestic-service complex, which houses 24 domestic-service enterprises and institutions, has been established. 

Shandong Women's Federation has encouraged domestic-service providers to develop apps, mini programs and other online-docking services based on community-service requirements, and relying on community-network-information-service platforms. 

The federation has also encouraged the development of stores in communities, to provide services, evaluation of services, and a one-stop, information-tracking system of orders.

Photos from Shandong Women's Federation and VCG

(Women of China English Monthly July 2024)

Editor: Wang Shasha