In a bid to encourage qualified women involved in family chores to return to work, two German towns are handing out vouchers to employees working extra hours to help with housework such as cleaning and ironing.
Two towns in Baden-Wuerttemberg, southwest Germany, are running the publicly funded scheme, aimed at both supporting family life and reducing the shadow economy.
Employees covered by social insurance get a subsidy of 8 euros an hour for additional time worked.
The vouchers can be exchanged at agencies supplying domestic services, BBC reported, citing a German daily.
Ralf Kleindiek, state secretary in the federal ministry of family affairs, stressed that the goal was to "support qualified women who are heavily involved in family work but would like to return to work or do more work".
The project, launched last month, is due to run until February 2019, according to the German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine (FAZ).
The initiative was inspired by a similar scheme in Belgium, the report said.
Employment agencies issue vouchers to eligible employees in the towns of Aalen and Heilbronn, the FAZ said.
The vouchers can then be redeemed by service agencies whose staff have social insurance.
Between 75 per cent and 83 per cent of helpers employed in German households are unregistered, according to an estimate by the German Business Institute in Cologne.
"With professional help in the home, it is easier to reconcile work and family life," said Kleindiek.
"On the other hand, we are strengthening service companies with the pioneering project and effectively combating illegal work, since the vouchers may only be redeemed where the companies employ their employees with social insurance," he said.
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