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In Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste NG the landlord Mrs. Richardson insists that her tenant Mia works for her by taking family portraits of her family and by doing some light housekeeping and dinner prep for her family.
“You keep everything so clean,� she said at last, running a finger along the mantelpiece. “I should hire you to come to our house.� She laughed and Mia echoed it politely, but she could see the seed of an idea cracking and sprouting in Mrs. Richardson’s mind. Now really why don’t you come and work for us? We had a woman who came to clean and do some dinner prep before, she went back home to Atlanta in the spring, and I could certainly use the help. You’d be doing me a favor really.� She turned around to face Mia squarely. “In fact, I insist. You must have time for your art.�

Mrs. Richardson can be characterized as the kind of person who feels as if she is always owed something. She acts as if she is entitled. I think she feels as if she’s helping Mia out by giving her extra money with cleaning her house after Mia tells her that she always seems to get by with rent somehow. I think it is also kind of strange that Mia agreed to work for her land lord because she’s feeding into Mrs. Richardson’s feeling of entitlement

Do you think that it’s strange that Mia is working manual for her landlord?
Do you think Mrs. Richardson is doing Mia a favor by giving her extra money income?

I think this instance, like many of the instances in the book, is strange but productive. I don't think many people would accept the offer Mrs. Richardson makes (even just for the sake of privacy), but Mia is definitely not your average person.

No, I do not think she is doing Mia a favor by giving her an extra income, Mia herself said that she always manages to get by, and (as far as I can remember) she still keeps her job at the Chinese restaurant despite working for the Richardsons, please correct me if I'm wrong.

But in my mind she does Mia a different kind of favor. She allows Mia into the Richardson household where she gets to know the Richardsons on subconsciously personal levels as her portraits later show. While she does not do her a financial favor, she does do her a (not immediately realized) artistic favor.