Au pairs post brexit

[Forestgate]

Government don't seem to care about affordable childcare and working mums.

Have a decent job but probably need to resign as can't get an au pair for school holidays and wrap around- I work shifts and no family.

Wrote to my mp (labour) who basically told me to go away

So demoralising

I know it's difficult but lots of people don't have au pairs - I'm a single parent on 3 and have no spare room for an au pair. It's not easy I know but an au pair is not your only option surely? How old is/are your dc?

1, 6 and 8

Have nursery and school but the hours don't cover shifts. Start early.

Can't afford a nanny

Is this a new situation? How have you managed previously?

Was it easy to get one before? I’m a nanny but most au pairs I’ve come across are only working about 25 hours in exchange for about £125 a week, and aren’t left in sole charge of an infant. So depending on where you are, if it’s odd shift hours and the care of 3 children, one very young, all day in the summer holidays it might not be as appealing to them as you might think.

Why is brexit the reason you can't get an au pair? (Genuine question). If you can't afford a nanny, could it be that you're just not paying well enough?

It’s a big shame, au pairs really helped me out in the early years and I’m still in touch with all but one and it’s lovely seeing them start their own families now.

Two of our dc shared a room so we could accommodate an au pair.

Have you looked into after school child minders? Its another rubbish thing that Brexit is responsible for.

Millions of people manage without au pairs.

What does their dad do?

You. Any have an au pair looking after a one year old

Because you need a visa to work in the UK if you're not from the UK or Ireland. Brexit has made the UK a lot less attractive place for young people to travel and work.

Can't afford a nanny but could afford an au pair...? That's a bit suspicious.

Summer holidays are not new, neither is childcare or Brexit. This is a you problem and poor planning. And if I received a letter from you whinging about not being able to find a foreign national to pay pittance to work in your home and look after three kids because of Brexit then I'd probably give you the brush off too.

I actually didn’t think even prior to Brexit you were allowed to get an au pair to look after under 3s anyway?

Can you get a part time nanny from Koru Kids or similar? A lot are students I think.

I sympathise on the childcare part because managing childcare around school is difficult but I’m not sure au pair was the answer anyway.

As per my previous post 1 year old goes to nursery. Need au pair for the wraparound school hours / big ones in holidays (camp during day- again need wraparound)

Post brexit eu au pairs aren't allowed to come to uk- boris cancelled the au pair visa

Used to be easy- now a nightmare. Managed last year as took maternity.

Did you not know Brexit was happening?

YANBU. It is is frustrating for parents. We had two aupairs briefly at a time when it was the childcare which made most sense for our circumstances.

It's also such a shame that the cultural exchange element has been lost.

Brexit then covidd then maternity means this is now a new issue for me. Previously had no issue finding am au pair which at £100 per week for the 15 or so hours i need was reliable and affordable

Nanny is £15-17 phr and they want full days plus sick pay annual leave tax etc. Altogether it works out as more than my take home a year

I only need before and after school / nursery wraparound

But thanks for your lovely helpful post anyway

Not suspicious at all. I take home £560 a week as a nanny, that’s hundreds more than an au pair plus my employer is responsible for my tax and pension etc.Au pairs and nannies really are not comparable.

I feel for you, I used to use au pairs pre covid and now use an after school nanny for the same cost but a fraction of the hours! However I can't imagine how hard this must be on you as a shift worker.

There was another post on mumsnet last week where a poster in Europe was flooded with au pair applications when she advertised on aupairworld but unfortunately Brexit has killed the au pair program for the UK.

I don't know what the solution is :(

But you have older kids. So you know how school holidays happen. And most parents plan in advance for the additional cost of childcare during this time - even those of us (me included) who do shift work.

Imagine! People wanting to be paid appropriately for their time and experience and account for their entitlements as members of a workforce who also have their own families and responsibilities.

Some harsh comments here. OP had a way of accessing support pre Brexit and Covid that worked for her family. It's now not there. Childcare is really costly (and stressful to find good providers).

OP; I wonder if childminders are the answer for your older kids? And do as long as day at nursery as you can on the days that your infant is there?

We had lots of lovely au pairs, the majority of whom we're still in touch with.

It wasn't Boris that cancelled au pair visas though, there haven't been au pair visas for over 20 years, but no need for them either as there were plenty of candidates from the EU. Even the Canadians, Aussies who used to come on a Tier 5 visa, now have to show £2,500 of savings and pay An NHS surcharge.

Even if you can get one at the moment, they aren't happy as there are no other au pairs to make friends with.

It really needs sorting out. But yes, OP. You need a job that doesn't involve shift work.

We used to have au pairs when mine were small as we had the space but not loads of money for nannies.

I do think it’s a shame as, done right, the au pair scheme is very good for young people as well as for the families they stay with. Like many people we’re still in touch with former au pairs. They were really part of the family and , I hope, got a great experience of living in UK, learning English etc.

Our kids got the experience of living with someone from abroad.

One particularly excellent former au pair now lives in Ireland, where unsurprisingly he’s found it easier and more rewarding to go and live / work.

For some reason MN hates the idea of au pairs. Yes, some do it wrong and treat the person badly (or at least, not well) but that’s no reason why it’s a bad thing as such.

"You need a job that doesn't involve shift work" congrats on a super entitled post there. You do realise plenty of careers solely exist in shift patterns?!