Women get a Moscow man - by the hour

The boot is finally on the other foot for Russia's women. For years since the end of the Soviet empire when equality was promised, they have struggled to find work and been forced to accept the domestic chores while their menfolk went out to keep the new Russian economy booming.

But high divorce rates have now left an army of single mothers heading out to work, leaving the household drudgery undone.

And now they can maintain their independence while covering the housework with a new service - rent-a-man.

'Husband for an hour' provides an odd-job man who can do any 'male work', from carrying home the shopping to unblocking the kitchen sink - and business is brisk. The Moscow service has attracted up to 300 regular clients in its first eight weeks.

The hired husbands were created when Nina Rakhmanina converted her computer repair business into 'Golden Hands', the firm offering rent-a-man.

After initial confusion, in which some customers thought the services offered were of a more intimate nature, the firm now has 10 husbands available. Most of them are aged 40-45, with clients feeling more comfortable with older men, according to the firm. The youngest, Nikolai Toropchanin, 25, used to be an electrician, but said he prefers the level of communication he gets from being a hired husband.

Visits cost a minimum of 500 roubles (£10) for the first two hours, then 200 roubles (£4) for each hour after that. 'There are a lot of busy women in Moscow and they do not have time to do this kind of work,' Rakhmanina said, 'or lonely women who do not have husbands. Married women, widows, unmarried women - everyone uses us.'

Clients tend to ask for the same 'husband' repeatedly. The firm, however, strictly defines 'man's' and 'woman's' work, sending female workers to do the washing up. 'Our male workers only do men's work like fitting lamps and curtain rails, or carrying your shopping home.'

Irina, a 37-year-old divorcee, is a prime example of the sort of independent women who use the service. She works as an accountant at a major company, where she earns the comparatively large sum of $800 a month, and has a 15-year-old daughter.

'I am an emancipated woman,' she said. 'I have my own car. But there are some things I cannot do. Before, a woman wanted to be married as there was no way for them to earn money themselves. Now they have opportunities to be independent and to breathe freely. It is easier now for a woman to find a well-paid job. The situation changed.'

Yet analysts said the new trend was a welcome development but did not mean Russian society had comprehensively improved. Franz Sherigi, director for the Centre for Social Prognosis, said: 'It is good, but I do not agree there is a new generation of up-and-coming businesswomen or that the situation is much better for them now.'

He said there are more divorces in Russia today, with 60 per cent of marriages breaking down, often because of male alcoholism or drug abuse.

'Women have the freedom but not on their own terms,' he said.

While domestic violence is considered by Amnesty International to run rife in the Russian home - with as many as 14,000 women killed by their partners annually - chauvinism still dominates in the workplace. A lot of women lost their jobs during the economic crisis of the late Nineties, and experts say they are often the first to be sacked whenever staff numbers are reduced. Russian women also earn on average between half and two-thirds of what men receive.

Sherigi said most women involved in business are private entrepreneurs. Ten million Russians make a living importing clothing from abroad for sale in Russian markets, 80 per cent of whom are women. 'Some of the women have their own businesses, but in our country you have to be pretty tough and not fear the mafia protection rackets, or being killed [by a competitor].'

According to a recent poll, while 73 per cent of Russian men considered Russian women the world's most beautiful, 48 per cent said their main function was to be a 'mother', 17 per cent a 'wife' and 11 per cent a 'housekeeper'.