The Atlantic The Decline of Domestic Help The absence of maids—exploited, largely invisible workers who decades ago made keeping a house in order look much easier—is one of the biggest reasons today’s middle-class families feel stretched for time. Wikimedia Commons For centuries, a woman’s social status was clear-cut: Either she had a maid or she was one. Servants—often live-ins—who did the bulk of the cooking, laundry, and child care were an indispensable part of life for virtually everyone who wasn’t a domestic worker him- or herself. Live-in maids, though, are now an anachron...