Getting au pair for first time ? some questions re money?.

[4gotoindia]

We?re just in the process of getting an au pair for the first time, and have some questions for you. (We're signed up to Au Pair World...) We?ve used the questions that others have posted here and have found lots of useful tips. But I have a few questions that I?d appreciate if some au pair experts could help me on.

Firstly, money! What is the standard rate? We?re asking for 25 hours plus 1 or 2 nights babysitting per week. We live in the south of England. The main task would be taking our 6yo to school, and then collecting him at the end of the day and entertaining him until we get home at about 6. Then helping with supper and bathtime. We have a cleaner, so there would be minimal housework.

Also, do people pay anything in addition to the pocket money. For example, are you expected to pay for language courses? Travel to and from their home country? What about mobile phones? Is there anything else (on the financial side) that we need to consider?

What else do we need to be thinking about?

Many thanks for any tips!
mrs4gotoindia

We pay £70 for 25 hours a week, with no cleaning included.

I say that there is up to 2 babysittings included in the hours, but we rarely use them.

I also pay for a travel card for my au pair, as she has to go on the bus to collect the dcs from school.

I have paid for language school in the past - but only for the second term onwards when an ap has been with me.

I don't give a mobile phone, but would consider that if the ap didn't have one (with a bit of credit on) - I know some people do.

I only get aps who are already in this country so I don't pay for their travel - but I am based in Brighton where there are already loads of language students. I like to meet the ap first before she moves in. Once an ap lives with me, I might then help her out with a fare home at Christmas or something, but there is no expectation of this happening.

I would get my ap a laptop if she didn't have one. Ime they all spend huge amounts of time on their laptops. However, so far our au pairs have all had laptops and I haven't done this.

Thanks for this Pollyanna.

Anyone else? Really hoping to get an idea of the range of pocket money, and what is normally included - or what is additional.
Thanks
Mrs4

I'm on £100 in a job usually reserved for an AP, I do 27-30 hours a week with 5 hours on top of that being mother's help really, but full time during the hols, I get any time they have off off as well though, so I work something like half of the hols and get paid for the weeks I'm not working.

As I'm British I had a phone already, and my lappie, they provide the internet, a DVD player and the usual stuff really!

Before I started they said one or two evenings weekly babysit, it's more like one or two a month. I have times when I'm solecharge all night (hence the money being above average, usually once a week or fortnight) but the kids are really good with getting to bed so I'm not bothered by it!

They also let my boyfriend stay over for a few days every few weeks (he's working abroad for six months currently though) and they're really supportive of me studying whilst here.

& I'm in the west

I was an AP. I got £60 a week for 25 hours a week with babysitting not included. I didn't have to do any cleaning as the family had a cleaner. I didn't need language courses but I think host families normally help with these. Travel to and from the APs home country is normally paid for by the AP but I suspect many families help out if they get on well with their AP.

Have you thought about holidays? Will the AP have a certain amount of paid holidays. When you go on holiday will the AP be expected to come, or would you rather they didn't? If they did come would you pay them? If they didn't come would you still pay them and leave food for them?

Some APs have access to a car. This is by no means necessary though.

In terms of how much you pay per week, it does vary dependent on where you are living. In bigger cities, esp London I think the going rate is cheaper than in rural areas. This is because more APs want to be in the bigger cities.

HTH

Oh, I pay my travel costs too. I live 3/4 hours by train from my family and that far from my boyfriend when he was here too, and that cost a hefty chunk of my pay (more than a plane and trains to see boyfriend this summer will be costing me!)but I'd never ask my host family to pay that, I'd feel really cheeky! If I want to visit in my free time I do so with my spare cash!

I'll have car access once I pass my test too.

4go, I agree with Muffin that pocket money is cheaper in London than rural areas - pure supply and demand.

For 25 hrs + 2 nights babysitting, I pay £65, 50% cleaning, 50% childcare/school run.

I think this is probably on the low side, but I am in a nice part of London and have no problems finding au pairs at that rate.

I do not pay for anything else except if au pair does extra hours (eg during school hols or looking after ill dcs at home - extra £20 a day + spending money to take dcs out).

I would pay for transport only to the extent the aupair needs to take public transport to do the schoolrun. My aupair does it on foot. London has good public transport.

I would avoid giving aupair access to the car unless it is absolutely necessary for her to get around eg because of long school run or rural area. A driving aupair is quite a tricky thing. I believe unless she is over 23 (?), the insurance is prohibitive. Plus you probably want to pay for lessons because she probably drives on a different side of the road.

I will consider subsidising/paying for English classes only if she is very good. Like Pollyanna. In all cases, I help her look for subsidised ESOL classes run by the local council - costs about £400 a year my way.

Will provide a mobile and laptop for sole use. I might give an initial phone credit but my aupairs being from Western Europe tend to have their own mobiles and laptops so that has not been necessary.

I don't pay for airfare. But will consider return airfare is she is good and seems to be struggling financially. Never pay for her airfare to come over - it could be a scam. I always ask in my list of questions whether she needs money for the airfare.

I did an au pair job, whilst British and living in the area. I got £100 a week, plus accomodation, food etc. It went up to £125 for three weeks a month, and £150 for one week with the understanding the extra £25 was petrol money when I started doing the morning school run too.

I already had a laptop and phone. I think the only extras paid for me was when I got a speeding ticket and my boss paid. Usually I ate with them once a week, and then cooked the rest of time myself or ate with the children. They never paid when I went to visit family, but didnt really expect them to tbh.

I had a nanny car and they paid my insurance, tax and services etc.

4gotoindia,

I think in your situation, £70pw for 25 hours plus two evenings' babysitting, with room and board.

You do not have to pay for language classes that is the responsibility of the aupair. You may wish to, however, or give her a loan to help with the up front costs. It is always best to hold back a bit with reimbursements to make the aupair 'own' the committment, rather than thinking that you are a bottomless pit.

You don't pay for travel from their home country. You are expect to pay for the cost of travel from the UK port to your house (for us, that meant picking them up from the airport). Be skeptical if they tap you for the airfare.

If you want them to have a mobile phone, then you should be willing to provide one, including a reasonable allowance for calls associated with their job (eg a £5 car per month).

£70 per week for 27.5 hours a week - random babysitting probably averages 1.5 evenings a week (sounds like a grand social life - the reality is me working late or delays on the trains).

Mobile phone, I pay for all texts and UK calls.

Gym membership.

Use of car (plus insurance and all local petrol (if she wants to go further afield for a weekend then petrol is down to her). Includes on average one new tyre per au pair as they clip kerbs as they get used to driving on the left.

Board and lodging (I had on applicant enquire this year as to what she had to contribute towards board and lodging - this shocked me, sounds like somebody had tried to scam her).

I pay more as I am rural.

Young persons railcard (£24 gets them 1/3 of all fares) but it is for personal use not for transporting DC.

Phone, on which I load £10 credit with top up if AP has to make calls to me or for DC whilst out. The deal is they must keep enough credit on it make emergency calls.

Gym membership and use of bike with lock.

Starbucks card (for emergencies with DC) with £20 on it.

Laptop, DVD player, TV etc in room.

Have contributed towards ESOL for v.good APs, as a treat/bonus it is never mentioned beforehand so they do not expect it.

Marmaduke Am loving that your DC has an emergency £20 starbucks card - does he/she need an emergency caffeine fix every once in awhile

How rural are you, Marmaduke, that a Starbucks card is a valid emergency measure? I'd offer my AP one, but it'd be naff all use as nearest Starbucks 20 miles away!

We pay £80/wk, £10 mobile PAYG top up monthly, use of laptop/Skype, Sky TV in bedroom, use of car (must pay for personal use petrol). AP pays for own language lessons, which are only £50/term and has bought her own Young Person's Railcard. She works 25 hours/week, roughly half housework, half childcare - looking after 2 youngest DSs before & after school 4 days/week. Always has weekends off & babysits about twice a month.

Regarding car - I add APs to my insurance & it's not too prohibitive - even for an 18 year old. Never had to buy a tyre yet - DIoM - but then, there's not too many pavements in Suffolk ! I do pay for a couple of driving lessons first, then go with them on a school run (I drive kids; she drives me home) to check. You're right, whoever said letting APs use car is complicated!

I am in rural Cambridgeshire - there is one rural road with about 20 yards of kerb in 5 miles - they all find the same bit of kerb. It's uncanny.

at emergency starbucks card. ALthough I did not too long ago hear the nanny saying to DD that she'd better hurry up so they could catch the early bus if she wanted to go for coffee before school. DD is 6. Had no idea she drank coffee.

Im rural too. 3 years ago I paid 80 a week. Expensed Car 24/7 but they paid their own personal petrol.

Sep annexe with free internet / skype . mobile with £10 credit and top up for work use.

Unlimited friends to stay and 20 quid here and there for nights out etc to reward commitment.

Obv board and lodging and often meals out and takeways with the family.

I learnt a lot that the ones you paid more to were not necessarily the best.

Start low and then increase if you can for extra special help.

There are 3 Starbucks, 2 in town 6 miles away where DC both go to school and the other 6 miles in the other direction.

AP would, in an emergency with DS (who has SN/serious health issues and has to be blue lighted to hosp more regularly than I would like!), have to get train to town and collect DD at 4.30-5 pm from school - easiest and quickest tea for her would be SB, she is a big fan of their chees and marmite pannini.

Sometimes she used to collect DD from school and take her swimming via a snack at SB.

As for emergency coffee lol, she had some proper tiramisu when on hol a few years back it took hours to peel her from the ceiling!

Im on the outer London commuter belt (over 1 hour commute). I pay our au pair £75 a week. On top of that, obviously all food and accomodation, her own car (she pays a contribution for petrol for her private journeys), a PAYG mobile phone - but she is very sparing in using it. Wireless internet (she has her own laptop), and I pay £3 a month for a sykpe account for her which includes all calls to europe through that. I also have European satellite TV - having lived in a 'foreign language' country myself, I remember how fantastic it was to be able to truly relax by watching TV without struggling to understand - it is non-subscription, so only really the set-up costs. She hardly ever watches it, but our previous AP watched it every day.

I think technically she is an au pair plus and it should be 35 ish hours a week. Basically in the mornings she gets DS up, they breakfast with my parents (we share the house) - one week she takes DS and two others to school, the alternate week DS goes in the school run with the other two - which she arranged! evenings, she plays with DS from when he gets home (my parents collect him as they enjoy doing that), till I get home at 7pm for bedtime story. I work at home one day a week.

School holidays, it is much more full time - although very rarely sole charge - either my parents are around or they are on playdates most of the time. She cooks ones evening a week, I or my parents do the other days. Techically babysitting is twice a week, but in reality it is rarely once a week - and my parents are also then around 90% of the time.

She also cleans the kitchen, bathroom and does a general vacuum once a week. She a very good netowrk and social life and reckons she has a pretty easy life compared to most!

p.s you did ask earlier and i might not have been specific enough - I pay 52 weeks a year, regardless of holidays - if she wants to come on ours, that is usually fine - if not we will still pay her and provide food etc at home. She gets roughly 3-4 fully paid weeks for herself. All weekends are free except the occaisional staurday morning till 10/11ish - for that odd lie in :-)

I will also pay £100 towards language course and airfares if they stay over 10 months, and will pay the languge course for them in advance and then offset it against the salary over the year. She has so far had Mum, boyfriend (twice) and friends over for holidays (in 7 months) - on the understanding that unless it is officially holiday for her, then she still has to do her normal job, and they are welcome as long as that doesnt stop happening. Basically we try to make them also welcome as part of the family rather than 'guests'. Also she is welcome to have fellow APs/friends to stay over in her room when she wants (subject to asking first).

When we go out for meals etc of course I pay for her, or to things like bowling etc - as well as any expenses that she has whilst out with DS. She knows that I wouldn't be desperately happy to pay for Pizza Express every day of the holidays, but sometimes it's OK. And the final perk is a season ticket to the safari park - has a great indoor play area and DS has a season ticket too - so it becomes a very cheap day out in the holidays!

we have had 2 great APs (one stayed 2 years and would have stayed longer if the local college hadn't cancelled the course she wanted to study), and one disaster so far - and about to start the process of looking again. I prefer an agency where the candidates have had to think about it, write applications, get references, get a medical, been interviewed in the home country etc - so that you know they have really thought it out and are serious about it - rather than the risk it might be a whim - that was our disastrous one! But a good friend found her through a website and has had a great girl for the past year, so every experience is different... good luck