A housemaid is a female person employed in domestic service, although now usually found only in the most wealthy of households. In the Victorian era domestic service was the second largest category of employment in England and Wales, after agricultural work uses. In the contemporary Western world, comparatively few households can afford live-in domestic help, usually compromising on periodic cleaners. In less developed nations, very large differences in the income of urban and rural households and between different socio-economic classes, fewer educated women and limited opportunities for working women ensures a labour source for domestic work. Maids perform typical domestic chores such as cooking, ironing, washing, cleaning the house, grocery