How much to pay an au pair

[MiddleAgedMother]

We are - hopefully - about to hire a student in her 30s as a live in au pair. School pick up works well with her uni timetable.
We have to juggle a little to cover some early evenings but we really like her and she has child care experience and is au pairing only to help fund uni as was previously a nanny.
We don't need evenings or weekends.
Standard uk paid hols of 20 days plus public hols.
Lovely big room with ensuite and not on same floor as DC (youngest is 9).
Outer London Zone 4.
Duties are pick up youngest, dog walking, cook supper and odd jobs like taking in supermarket delivery.
What is the going salary?
Max is 25 hrs a week - we could go as low as 15 when her studies are critical to make it work but need some flexibility as DH and I both work full time.
Thanks.

That sounds like a live in housekeeper not an au pair? In which case around £10-12 per hr

The going rate ATM is on average 75 pounds per week.

Art and Co - that's the local rate for live out net here!
Amalfimoma - thanks for that.
I was thinking £125 - would you give extras at that price? Phone? Gym?

MiddleAgedMother
125 per week?
Is she English?

That's not an aupair role and given the woman has nanny experience I'm not sure why she isn't going for a nanny role?

In London the hourly rate would be about £15 ph

You can't pay £5 per hour

She can't go for a nanny role as only doing 3-5 hours a day.
She chose to stop nannying and go to uni.
We would be her second au pair role as that is the level of responsibility she wants at the moment to give time for uni and study.
Live in rate with full board is very different to live out though!
Her current hours are lower and pay less and I want to be fair.
Anglophone but not British.

Whisperingloudly - remember we are paying net not gross and its live in,
full board.
Have had full on professional nannies - inc Norlander - in the past when DC younger and this is a very different role!

MiddleAgedMother

With what you're offering no need for extras unless you want to offer them as an incentive as the wage and board are more than fair

600pcm. No extras. I think that's fair

Amalfimamma and quitelikely5 - thank you!

WhisperingLoudly

Au pairs have a going rate of room, full board and pocket money of 70 - 85 GBP per week. Working an average of 30 hours per week. What the OP is offering is more than fair

If she has sole care I don't understand why you see this role as having significantly less responsibility? I get its less hours but she's still looking after your DC on her own.

Discount for live in v live out nanny is usually 20-25%

If you've had nannies in the past you must know that £5 an hour is unreasonable

amalfimama Aupairs are a unique category of worker whose primary focus is learning English whilst living abroad as part of a family. In return for board and English lessons they do a small amount of light childcare.

They don't do sole care unless they're aupair-plus (and for which you'd pay significantly extra)

Amalfimama Can you explain "is she English" please?

Ok it has been explained by whispering already thanks

Duties are pick up youngest, dog walking, cook supper and odd jobs like taking in supermarket delivery.

Sounds like a pretty standard au pair job to me. Au pairs definitely do sole care of children - as do teenage babysitters.

Au pair plus is more about doing extra hours.

Whispering
Looked at au pair plus too - going rate seems to be £170 for 35 hours - but we don't need so many hours.
But it's not £5/hr as one first has to value the accommodation!
So it's not prorata.
I am trying to pay the right rate for the role that the candidate wants - to be fair - hence posting here.

I think that any sole care means nannying. I don't think au pairs are left in sole charge.

I appreciate you can leave them with her as she's a former nanny but I do think you should pay more for sole care.

Thanks Merrymouse.
Consensus seems to be £125 ok and no extras required. (Includes TV, fast broadband etc inc anyway)
Thanks all.

I pay our au pair (zone 1) £135 a week, plus her mobile phone costs. She does about ten hours a week during term time (pick up and drop offs from school) and more during the holidays, with about seven weeks holiday a year (contract says five but it's always more). She has sole care (my youngest is 10) when I'm at work. Very small amount of light housework - no more than I'd expect from an adult living in the house as we have a cleaner, though she does do the children's laundry and bedrooms.

WhisperingLoudly

Au Pair is also loosely used for live in help whose job it is to look after the children and do light housework as long as it's less than 30 hours PER WEEK.

A nanny is a professional who is usually contracted in to a full time permanent position, either live in or live out, and who works 10-14 hours PER DAY.

Au Pair's are 99% of the time left as the sole carer of the child/children. You're thinking of a mother's help who does not generally have the experience or qualifications to be left with sole responsability.

Evergreen17 As the nationality can influence contracts and benefits, visa costs, etc etc

whispering - you're getting confused, the vast majority of au pairs do sole care; its sole care of under 2's that they don't do. Au pairs are best suited to being mother's helpers or providing sole care for school age children, drop offs pick ups etc.

However, its very unlikely that an english speaking UK resident would qualify as an au pair, gov regulations are here.
www.gov.uk/au-pairs-employment-law/au-pairs
so I'd pay min wage for 20 hours minus the accom offset which works out as around £100.

Karolanne
Thanks for clarifying.
So £7.20 times 25 hours is £180.
That means accommodation valued at £55/week - full board.
Rooms here go for much much more than that - without food.
So I will stay with £125 I think as she's lovely.

Au pairs can and often do take sole charge but hours are limited. I think they must be a foreign national living wth a Uk family to be classed as an au pair (see www.gov.uk/au-pairs-employment-law/au-pairs).
Rates around here are £85-100 but London is higher.