How much should I pay an aupair?

[JustJen]

Hi we are just about to get our first aupair and seeing conflicting information on going rates.

We are looking for about 30 to 35 hours a week plus occasional weekly babysitting. The job will be mainly looking after our 4yo (taking and collecting from school, entertaining him after school/ giving him tea plus the odd hour taking the (new) baby for a walk so I can catch up on sleep.... Weekends will be free time, board/ food paid, all the usual stuff really plus her own laptop, tv, and mobile phone.

I was thinking £85 or £90 a week. Does that sound about right? We are not paying for her flight to come over (Aupairworld say aupair pays). Thanks!

Define 'odd hour' with the baby as that may bs tricky to pin Disney in the contract. Are you thinking the babysitting will make the hours up to 35 a week and you'll typically need 6 hours a day?

Will they have room in the schedule for classes I'd they want to take them? Many au pairs do and it's a good way to make friends which means you don't end up with a lonely, isolated au pair.

I'd go right up to the limit for NI contributions and offer £90-95 a week.

Thanks Frakkinup. I'm thinking max 1 hour a day with the baby (while 4yo is out). Would be 30 hours a week (6 a day) so max with babysitting would be 35 hours a week. The aupair we're talking to is from New Zealand, so won't be taking language classes, but she does have friends and family in the UK so hopefully won't be stranded. I will probably go £90 on the basis of what you're saying.

Check the the person you are considering meets the points requirements for Youth Mobility Scheme. Shouldn't be a problem for someone from New Zealand... though they will need the £1,600 in an accessible bank account.
She will need to apply in Wellington and pay the visa fee which is currently £130 - see UKinNewZealand: Tier 5.

If she has a British passport or a Certificate of Entitlement then will not need the Tier 5 visa.

I think 30-35 hours a week is a lot but it sounds like most of it is not sole-care?

We pay £80 for about 20 hours a week and 1 night babysitting. We also offer £30 if they want to do cleaning; otherwise we get a cleaner.

£85-90 sounds about right. I pay £90/wk for 35 hours in London. Outside London or big city, expect to pay more, simply because of demand and supply. Aupairs tend to prefer cities to rural.

Don't pay for her flight or offer any contribution before she arrives.

Thank you everyone for your advice and messages. Really helpful. We are going to go ahead and get this aupair. Just Jen

As she will be English speaker, she will be very much in demand. I would therefore offer £100 in London - this is towards the top end of the range, but for 35 hours justified. This would reduce the risk that she will leave you after a few weeks for a better paid job.

Frakk were you writing on your phone then? Love predictive text.

When we had au pairs we paid £70 but only for 25 hours per week so sounds about right to me.

When we first tried to recruit an AP we offered £100 for 27 hours on au pair world when we thought the others were offering £70-85. We thought we were coming across as really 'happening' and fair employrs! And we really struggled to recruit. I wondered whether the applicants got the idea that BECAUSE the rate was noticeably higher than the market rate for hte hours in question people assumed we had to offer more for some undisclosed reason - bratty children, terrible area, surprise them with unexpected duties etc.

never had a problem with £70-80 for similar sorts of hours...but then again we use an agency now.

Above £97 pw you will need to register with HMRC as as employer and complete all the paperwork that entails.