I cannot understand how you can possibly argue that outsourcing household work means promoting gender equality. We live in Asia. Everyone knows that hiring a domestic helper means taking in a young woman - probably hailing from Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Burma, Bangla Desh, the Philippines. These (female) domestic helpers either have no other choice, or, by lack of other qualifications, see domestic help as the only "career path" available to them. They typically get low to extremely low wages, which are spent almost entirely for the sustenance of their families in their home countries .. and, if they are lucky, .. on the school fees of the children (and probably the sons first) ... of their brothers.

Here is my counter-claim: Outsourcing domestic work, rather than promoting gender equality, comes down to sustaining gender inequality. All it does is free an individual pair of parents of a series of chores that are seen as "essential, but of essentially low value" - with "low value" applying both to the essence of the work itself, and to its monetization.

If the promotion of gender equality is one's concern, try attributing value to the chores that need to be done. The act of daily mopping the floors in the early morning doesn't just clean the house, it cleans one's mind too. Cleaning and shelving your own dishes after supper is a perfect closure to the ritual of eating. Washing and folding the laundry brings one in deep connection with the essence of living in the floating world. By making these and other chores desirable, the only fight left in one's household is trying your best to make sure that there are enough chores left to be done by you.