What’s Fair Pay for Au Pairs Outside the USA?

by cv harquail on June 5, 2015

Host Mom 4thTimeLucky?!   shared a really interesting and comprehensive recommendation for assessing Fair Pay for Au Pairs in unregulated  countries (aka countries without fully-regulated Au Pair programs).  

beach houses au pair assist site

The document was originally written and shared by Anja Kapelski. Anja runs Au Pair-Assist, an Australian Au Pair placement agency.  

As 4thTimeLucky?!  writes:  

The document tries to convey a realistic picture of aupairing and expectations. It’s something that all agencies should hand out and discuss with their aupairs before matching – to revive the aupair spirit – on both sides!

It’s hard to share the 5 page document itself in the post, so I’ve added it here as a downloadable (pdf) file. It’s really well done, and well worth reading!

If you download it, please share it only with direct attribution to Anja and Au Pair-Assist. 

Fair Pay for Au Pairs 07-2014rev1

What do you think? 

Thanks so much to 4thTimeLucky?! and Au Pair-Assist!

Here’s the first page, to tempt you to click to the whole document:    

aupairmom.com wp content uploads 2015 06 Fair Pay for Au Pairs 07 2014rev1.pdf

{ 4 comments }

Anonamomma June 6, 2015 at 5:39 am

It’s a wonderful well-balanced read – and I think it explains really well the concept of being an AP – and how when done right – works beautifully and benefits both sides.

I’m not Stateside – I’m in Europe, in probably one of the most sought after countries, English speaking, music-loving, and well known for the craic!

Pocket money (i.e. stipend) ranges from €75.00 to €150 per week, depending on location, no of children/hours, etc.

There is no legislation for APs and the “agencies” that do exist are money-making rackets who do practically no screening and offer very little by way of support if things don’t work out so most families conduct their own selection/screening process – I think it’s only fair to refer to them as matchmaking organisations and nothing more – they have about the same success rate as a traditional matchmaker too, i.e. once the honeymoon is over, it all falls apart, and the matchmaker is nowhere to do seen..

Unfortunately it does mean that any family can “host” an AP – and if things go badly there’s practically no protection for either party.

OzAuPair June 6, 2015 at 7:41 pm

When I au paired in Australia, the going rate was anywhere between AU$150 – 300, with most I think paying about AU$200 or 250. I think there are agencies, but I never knew anyone who used them. Most au pairs were/are situated in metro areas like Sydney and especially Melbourne, and Australia’s already expensive in general, but even more so in the metro areas, so a higher stipend is pretty necessary if you want to do anything at all.
That said, when everything is up in the air like that, it’s REALLY easy to get screwed over monetarily, both for au pairs and host families. I know quite a few au pairs who weren’t paid nearly enough for how many hours they worked (50+) and/or just how much was on their plate (full-time childcare PLUS basically being a maid/housekeeper), not to mention dealing with inappropriate host dads, and I know host families who had au pairs use the families for entry tickets/visas and then run off.

Multitasking Host Mom June 7, 2015 at 8:19 pm

What a great description of what it is like to be an au pair! Love how everything is laid out up front and explained with supporting information. Hope APs coming to the US can get this realistic picture. Thanks for sharing this!

Anja Kapelski March 2, 2016 at 10:49 am

Thank you for posting my document. Having fair regulations is close to my heart and I believe my passion for it is widely known in Australia.

I would like to make a small correction: I do not run a placement agency as such. Au Pair Assist is a support agency for both au pairs and host parents to build a trusting and respectful relationship. The service has been started when more and more au pairs and families took matching into their own hands and it became evident that there is a big gap in understanding and information what it means to host and be an au pair.

Our service complements online match-making and our fees are very reasonable, following the DIY trend, however, providing the necessary back-up for early prevention if something does not ‘feel’ right.

We do not charge au pairs so they always know where to turn to for good advice.

The document with 2015/2016 pay rates is available on request through http://www.facebook.com/AuPairAssist

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