To think that this government cares sod all about working mothers?

[dellacucina]

I wrote to my MP to ask them to save the au pair programme.

I left my abusive partner a year ago and I now totally rely on my au pair to enable me to do my job and have a decent quality of life. The au pair programme has also genuinely been wonderful for providing both my daughter and me with companionship and a cultural exchange. I am still in regular contact with our previous au pairs.

I received the attached, which makes it clear that here is no longer an au pair programme. There will definitely not be enough 'youth mobility' visa holders to go around.

For myself, I will either have to take a higher paying job to fund wraparound childcare and spend less time with my daughter, move closer to family (in my case, another country), or get back together with the abusive ex.

Women take on most childcare responsibilities whether the parents are still together or not. This is truly a tragedy for working women.

There are no comments, only votes???

I guess they are treating au pairs like anyone else who wants to come to the UK to work. I agree that au pairs can be a huge help - my sister worked as one in Germany for a year and her family never stopped telling her quite how much they appreciated the difference she made to them.

I do think that au pairs should have been considered and allowed as you simply don't get uk au pairs since the whole point of it is for them to learn a language as well. It does say they are looking into arrangements though but I doubt it will be at the top of their agenda with the rest of the brexit shit to sort

I completely agree, they don't care. Working women have taken a massive hit in the pandemic, women have been disproportionately hit by austerity measures, they clearly aren't bothered. The lack of women in decision making positions in government has to have an impact, can't imagine that many of the men around the table had child care responsibilities.
BoJo apparently struggling to afford a nanny for his latest addition, maybe write to him directly pointing out the benefits of an au pair?

But au pairs are not professionally trained and qualified nannies or childminders.

You don't need to get back with an abusive ex. You might need to cut back, spend a bit more time away at the office and pay higher childcare, or you don't take the higher pay and do what a lot of single mums do and wait until you can find childcare that meets your needs.

You will get there .

@SensibleHatOn

That's the point - the au pair programme is a totally different kettle of fish than professional childcare. There is no replacement for it available in the UK.

My au pair does house stuff and is able to be in the house if I run out to take a walk, see a friend, or run an errand after my daughter is in bed. She also plays with my daughter sometimes. This frees me up to have more headspace and to spend more time with my daughter, as I'm not dealing with all the house stuff instead of engaging with her. (This was my explicit arrangement with the au pair from day one).

When my daughter starts school, the au pair would pick her up, bring her home, give her a healthy snack, and play with her so she doesn't have to have such a long day, with after school clubs.

Both my and my daughter's lives will be significantly worse without an au pair.

This could cause quite a lot of families problems, particularly those in public service roles doing odd shifts. All the people I know that have au pairs are junior doctors on training contracts who would struggle to pay for a live in nanny.

@Ratatcat No kidding! I'm really worried about the impact this will have on people's lives (not just my own).

Here's a good article on the impact this has on key workers: www.swlondoner.co.uk/news/19052020-key-workers-face-giving-up-their-jobs-as-au-pairs-return-home/

The government are just doing what people voted for unfortunately

It's shit.

It's bad for the families, bad for the au-pair candidates

Another ill-thought and negative consequence of Brexit. I am actually very angry about it all, still struggling to find anypositive about the whole thing.

I know the poster above meant well, but it's not as simple as taking a higher paid job or suck it up until the kids are grown. I have had nannies, then I had au-pairs. I could not have kept my job without an au-pair, and I am not a single mother!

OP, I hope your school provides after-school clubs, then you can use a childminder until you come home. It's not ideal but I hope it works.

Do not go back with an abusive ex!

@NailsNeedDoing

The government are just doing what people voted for unfortunately

sadly you are right.

What is unfair is that the rest of us pays the consequences equally!

I'm not surprised.

That letter is very badly written and obviously hasn't been proof-read - you've been fobbed off, OP.