To remind you that you cannot use your au pair for childcare all day every day

[NoIDontWatchLoveIsland]

Its modern slavery unless you plan to pay them minimum wage for the hours.

I know several people doing this with children under 5 - using au pair for 10 hours a day all day. When they are only paid £80 a week.

I know people are struggling but its doesnt make it ok to abuse another person - please pay your au pairs appropriately if you are asking them to do full time.

Also I can’t imagine girls from NZ or AUS come if here to be au pairs ..
They come here too nanny and know the difference so will not be exploited ..personally I’m sad that girls from EU can’t come .. but I don’t like to hear of them being exploited .. I was chatting to a au pair last night who is not being fed .. family won’t let her eat their food ... she feels awful sneaking a sand which .. this is inBristol .. so if it’s you .. 😡

@nannykatherine

Also I can’t imagine girls from NZ or AUS come if here to be au pairs .. They come here too nanny and know the difference so will not be exploited ..personally I’m sad that girls from EU can’t come .. but I don’t like to hear of them being exploited .. I was chatting to a au pair last night who is not being fed .. family won’t let her eat their food ... she feels awful sneaking a sand which .. this is inBristol .. so if it’s you .. 😡

If you are aware if someone being exploited, don't just leave them there! There is help and if she is from EU it's very cheap to leave back to her family.

People in this situation need help even if it's just a simple encouragements to leave and offer to help google a plane or bus ticket, not just a sumpathetic nod.

@WhatsAParlay

It's not £80 per week though is it? Au Pairs are also provided with accommodation and all meals.

The contract I had with my Au Pair was the above in return for 25 hours' work. I also provided a car as I needed her to do school runs, but she was free to use the car for her personal use, all expenses paid. I don't agree with asking them to do more than these hours but do consider the full extent of their remuneration.

That’s only £3.20 an hour to look after your DC. What jobs did she do? How much would rent be in your area to have 1 bedroom and shared kitchen and living area? Maybe around £100? Even if you paid her minimum wage (£8.72) and subtracted rent, she would still be entitled to more than £80. How much would a non-live in nanny be paid for 25 hours?

atotalshambles
My youngest had a wonderful time at 18 in Spain, 3 families related all got aupairs, introduced them on FB before arriving, took them to wonderful places, meals, theatre their country homes with vast pools. They had a great time. I did get the odd tearful call but she grew up a bit and was only gone for about 6 weeks. You can speak to the people and see them nowadays before your child goes. Years ago I met a guy (70s) who was aupair for Harrison Ford, he said he was lovely. Don't dismiss out of hand. She went through Au Pair World

Agree that aupairs should never be used as nannies, it is wrong on so many levels, agree many too young to stand up for themselves etc. Should be a crime.

I have an au pair who definitely does not have a hard time. In fact I'm pretty soft on her. She only does childcare every other week but gets paid every week. Usually wrap around care only.
At the moment as I'm WFH I don't actually need her but love having her here. It's like having an older daughter.
However, before restrictions I frequently had a house full of au pairs who came to stay at weekends because their host families weren't great. But now we can only have European au pairs with pre settled status there will be plenty of competition and host families will have to up their game!
Traditional childcare wouldn't work for me due to timings

@blueluce85

Put into a little perspective.... But this isn't knowing the person's position, if they have no expenses, they are £80 clear a week.... That's between £320/400 clear a month, not many people have that much free cash after house, bills and food are paid for. They will pay no tax because they don't earn enough (whereas we have to pay tax before paying for food and rent) I think it's a good deal esp for a young person.

You can pay just over £2 an hour for a young apprentice......

Apprentices are paid £4.15 an hour and earn a level 2/3 qualification.

I agree with original OP comment- au pair isn’t a “job” intended as full time childcare. It’s an outdated way for an over-protected young person to do a bit of light work for a bit of pocket money whilst living in a safe, cosy, family environment.

I’m staggered that anyone has the gall to underpay on the basis that “it’s a great opportunity to live with my amazing family in my amazing house to experience the amazing culture of British middle-class suburbia”.

@blueluce85

Put into a little perspective.... But this isn't knowing the person's position, if they have no expenses, they are £80 clear a week.... That's between £320/400 clear a month, not many people have that much free cash after house, bills and food are paid for. They will pay no tax because they don't earn enough (whereas we have to pay tax before paying for food and rent) I think it's a good deal esp for a young person.

You can pay just over £2 an hour for a young apprentice......

It’s £4.15 an hour for a first year apprentice, however where I work we pay them a minimum of £6.72 an hour for those doing a level 3 qualification and those doing a degree apprenticeship start on £18k plus no debt from doing a degree.

There is no comparison between an au pair and an apprentice.

Hi