Due to the hugely popular British series - "Upstairs; Downstairs" and "Downton Abbey" more of us than not know all about the servant's lives back in the day.
But what about today? Do people still have servants? I can reassure you on this point merely by remarking that if you have great swags of money and things that yourself would prefer not to do - you betcha!
"Servants" by Lucy Lethbridge W. W. Norton& Co. 385 pages $27.95 canswer any questions from the 19th century to 2014.
Ex-military members are in high demand as butlers/bodyguards - oops, it's no longer "butler" but "house manager" and might include getting plane tickets or downloading the Boss' Blackberry.
Flight attendants, hotel caterers and funeral directors (!) are all prized for their efficiency and frequent dealings with the public.
An employment agency named Greycoat (est. 1996) caters to the Chinese new-rich looking for a British butler (and ONLY a British butler need apply,) governesses are greatly in demand in Russia, but they have to have the paperwork showing their teaching exams. Ladies maids are now called "wardrobe managers" and they are snapped up by women in the Middle East.
Interestingly enough the same ban on interaction between master and servants is still of prime importance. The roaringly expensive condos we see advertised? The architect's plans included subterranean tunnels and hidden elevators so that the owner is promised privacy.
Childcare is another wide open field for parents who both work (think Brangelino) and others well above the median income level.
As far as hiring out is a consideration, think of the words of Voltaire, "The comfort of the rich depends on an abundant supply of the poor."
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