Around 40 percent of people surveyed by Shanghai Women's Federation said family and work are equally important to women.

The federation surveyed 2,334 Internet users, of whom three quarters were female.

Around 32 percent held that the amount of emphasis women place on their work and home lives should depend on their situation, while 6.6 percent of the respondents held that women should devote themselves to work.

Though gender equality is becoming a consensus in society, a majority of the respondents held that women should do housework, with around 37 percent saying the elder women in the family should do the housework and 9 percent saying the younger women in the family should do it.

Around 37 percent said all family members should do housework.

Only 5 percent of the respondents said that housekeepers should be the main undertakers of housework. Most of this 5 percent were high-income women under 30 years old who had just given birth.

As for the reason respondents gave for not employing housekeepers, 45 percent said they have enough time to do housework by themselves and 23 percent said they do not have the money.

About 31 percent worried that housekeepers are a security risk or do not offer good service.

Of all the respondents, about 31 percent had employed housekeepers, 76 percent of which were part time.

Zhou Juemin, vice president of the Shanghai Household Services Association, told the Global Times that the need for housekeepers has drastically increased as more women work.

To regulate the industry and improve the service quality of the city's household service agencies, the government will name 80 qualified agencies as models in the industry this year.

The local government will also offer financial help and training to their housekeepers and managers, Zhou said.