City Hall want to rent ‘husbands’ to perform ‘men’s jobs’ in local households – the service will be free for low-income families. The Moscow Times report

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Moscow’s city administration wants to offer the capital’s struggling residents a new social service – a husband for an hour, according to local news reports.

The hired “husbands” would be available to perform tasks traditionally viewed as a man’s job in a Russian household, such as replacing a leaky tap or putting up shelves, deputy chief of the City Hall’s social protection department Andrei Besshtanko told Izvestia newspaper.

The City Hall’s social service will be free of charge for low-income households and available at a moderate fee to others, the report said.

Companies offering similar services already exist in Moscow’s private sector.

“Husband For An Hour Moscow” is one of several dozen companies which promise “young and strong men with a huge set of technical skills,” who will perform handyman work around the clock, according to its website.

If the company’s sales pitch is anything to go by, the do-it-yourself trend – or female emancipation – seems not to have quite caught on yet.

“You’ve just spent a long time in a store selecting a new light fixture for your hallway to perfectly match your new decor,” the company’s online statement reads.

“But you’re a beautiful woman with a killer manicure , and you’re not ready to get intimate with a buzzing and horribly vibrating drill. Who can come to your aid?”

“Assertive men, who’ll call themselves your husband for an hour, are on their way to your home,” the ad reads.

Despite the uncomfortable appeal to gender stereotypes, the service is most popular among young families or the elderly, an employee at the company told Izvestia.

The Moscow administration already offers an array of home attendant services primarily intended for retirees and people with disabilities. They mostly include jobs traditionally viewed in Russia as ‘women’s work’, including cooking and cleaning chores.

The rates range from about 60 roubles (65p) for changing bed linen, to 230 roubles (£2.49) for cooking , according to a price list posted online.