Is 16 year old too young to work as an Au Pair?

[EvaLongoria]

I have been looking for an Au Pair for a while now. I am single mom with a 2 year old studying a degree.

On the 2 days that I have college my DD goes to a childminder and 2 nights a week stays at her dad's.

I would need Au Pair to drop her off and collect at childminders. I would then need her help on the days I am not at college whilst I am trying to put some studytime in.

I have details for a Nanny job she did the last few months and finishing this week so will be calling the family.

Do you think its too young. Oh and she is french so not local.

Treeesa - Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders and Japanese can come to the UK as au pair under Tier 5 Youth Mobility Scheme see Annex A

The status of au pair only exists if you're Romanian or Bulgarian though, with the restrictions on working hours etc. And I'm still not clear whether the language course requirement is still attahed or whether it just has to be an enlgish speaking family.

Everyone else is a home based childcarer to nab OFSTED's terminology. You can call them an au pair if you want but the old ideas of it being a cultural and language exchange and not having to have a contract etc are now out of date so a French person can't legally be termed an au pair, only Romanians and Bulgarians.

i am with you treeesa on the fact that it's only the aupair visa that has been abolished, not aupair jobs as such. the french have been able to take up an ap position for years without needing an ap visa and still are.

To dikkertjedap - yes I know about Canadians, Australians etc - I had written "APART FROM Canadians, Aussies, Kiwis and Japanese people can't."

Absolutely caterpilarr - more traditional countries like France, Germany and Scandinavian countries have been enjoying the au pair program for many years. Nothing at all has changed that means people from these countries can no longer participate and take up au pair positions.

I have had lengthy conversations about this recently with my agency and au pair status is still recognised by European and government organisations such as the Immigration & border agency, HMRC and others.

i have just read that susan griffith's guidebook to nannies and aupair or whatever the name is says that uk has not ratified the europian treaty on aupairs (1969) because it says an aupair should have an contract and uk government was worried about the need to control the whole thing if it fell under the employment law.
cant link as the documents i read were in czech but perhaps someone has access to this book?

I was an au pair at 16 in france - mainly to learn language and cos i love kids and it seemed a great short term opportunity.

I could not cook (i actually learned to cook an omlette and cook spaghetti when i was there!). i also didnt know much about kids. that said i was kind and caring and would not have left kids to themselves at the park (although i had no ideas how to discipline them!!). the family didnt work at taht time so i was really there to play with the kids and so they could pop out for the odd hour /eve here or there.

i agree with everyone's comments 16 is too young esp if you need to leave this person in sole charge of your kids on a regular basis .......but might be ok for occasional babysitting in an older sister kind of way

I wouldn't = all my au pairs under 20 have been pretty disastrous - just like having another child in the house imo.

It depends on the person. When I was 16 I was au pairing in the states away from my family and friends in the uk. Yes I had dropped out of school as soon as possible but I have very good reason to and it didn't affect my responsibility that I know I had and that I took very seriously. The couple that I was staying with we amazing and I'm still very good friends with them.

It really does depend on the person. And whether you would feel ok with them looking after your child.

This thread is 7 years old Charlie.....

I'm a bit shocked at those of you who seem to think a 16 year old is totally incapable of caring for a child! Personally, I agree that I would not take on an au pair who was only 16, my reasons being that technically she is a child and it could cause more problems for me in the future than it's worth. However, to say that all 16 year olds (and up to as high as 20?!) are uncapable of safely looking after your children is ridiculous IMO. I'm a childminder. I'm 18. I've been nannying since I was 16, not as a 'live in' however.
I know more about children than quite a few of the parents I work with, and quite often have parents come to me for advice on potty training, sleep routines etc. My mum has been a childminder my entire life so I was raised around children being cared for in a great environment.
I bought my first home in November, have set up my business entirely by myself, am in my second year of a levels and currently look after 3 full time children who will be arriving here in the next hour.
One of my best friends, who is 20, gave birth to her daughter just over 2 years ago and is one of the best mothers I have ever met. I've never met a happier, more well-rounded child (and that's saying something with the amount of children I've known). You could say it's her own child so it's different but I don't see how it is. My mum always treated the childminding children like one of her own (if anything they were her no1 priority) and I continue to do the same thing. The children I look after are 9 months, 18 months and 22 months.

Incapable*