not quite true. For the states with low minimum wage, the au paid is actually paid a lower stipend if part time. Tier 1 stipend is $8/hour. With $130/hour deduction at 31 hours, the stipend becomes $118/week. Also for many people, the au pair program is not 'affordable childcare'. I hear that agencies market this to some families but not to us. They were very clear that there were a lot of expenses expected from host families. Like cell phone and car use, vacations, outings. We are projected to spend $45-50K all in. The typical minumum spend for a family is $30K. Not including the value of housing and I'm not counting extra utilities. I don't live in the Dc area anymore but it is a high cost of living area. Housing is expensive. Gas is expensive (probably the most expensive in the country). Cars and car insurance are expensive. Food and restaurants are insane. However we have really top notch daycares and preschools which are not that expensive. Nannies are also plentiful. An au pair costs more than many nannies. My daughters pre school costs $1100/month;. This would reverse if we had a lot of kids like at least 3. An au pair does not provide professional child care, so for us the value is not in the child caring. The value is in the cultural exchange and the flexibility. We would be considered Tier 3. We already made the decision to exit the program as it's not worth it for us. The au pairs are not generally not interested in much of a cultural exchange and we have found a nannie that costs less than the program, and we get our room back. With these proposed changes it's a complete no brainer for us. |
We have 3 kids and interviewed for 6 weeks before finding 2 applicants who were willing to be the aupair for more than 2 kids. |
When will we find out if these changes are approved? |
The review period ends January 2024 I think. Maybe by summer 2024 which means the new changes take effect around Jan 2025. No one really knows. |
What the proposed rule about second year APs can’t match with a new family? |
Tada! I hope this goes through. AuPairs work no different than nannies, why should they be paid so much less? Anyway, everybody should try and get a nanny asap because the cheap labour aka AP conveyor belt is about to stop. |
Our nanny was an experienced professional with kids of her own. Our 18-19 year old au pairs were barely adults, and while we mostly loved being their host parents, they were not in the same league as the nanny. |
I have both a nanny and an au pair. The nanny costs me way less. The cheap labor myth is a lie perpetuated by au pairs and maybe nannies. I couldn't care less if the program went away though. What the au pair program really is an immigration path for a lot of very entitled people. |
How exactly is a nanny cheaper than an au pair?? “Nanny” must be an illegal babysitter with minimal English. |
It’s a shame. We’ve enjoyed the program for 8 years. Guess all good things must come to an end. At this point we can just do before or after care at school, but having au pairs has really been such a fun experience for the family. |
An aupair costs roughly $35,000-40,000 a year. A nanny working 30-35 hours a week making $22/hr is: $37,500. If you pay for taxes and insurance, it will be roughly $42,000 You do not have to cover food cost, car insurance, wear and tear on your home or belongings and usually not cellphone costs. No education stipend or paid time off for required courses. If you have both a nanny and an au pair, I'm assuming neither are full-time. The fixed costs of an au pair mean that even if you use 25 hours, the costs are the same rendering the nanny cheaper when comparing hourly wage. |
My nanny is not an illegal with minimal English. She is a retired elementary school teacher from the Midwest. Her hourly rate (and we give her guaranteed hours) is lower than the hourly rate for our au pair (assuming 40 hours for the au pair; we need between 35-40 hours typically, 45 max some weeks if one of us is traveling). I am not even counting the value of housing. People don't understand the true cost of having an au pair because the costs are distributed. An au pair is like having a child. Are children cheap? Ummm NO! Costs for an au pair include: stipend, agency fee ($12K this year), cell phone, auto insurance, car (or equivalent car payment if you buy and finance a spare vehicle), car maintenance, vacations, outings, education stipend, food, gifts. A family that doesn't provide a lot of extras to an au pair is spending minimum of $30K. We are at waaaaaaaaaaaaay above $40K right now and there are still 3 months left in our contract. My nanny is scheduled 20-30 hours/week, 20 hours guaranteed. Au pair is around 35 hours. Long story how we ended up with both, but short version is that we were planning on leaving the program early, so got a nanny. We ended up not leaving the program, so we ended up with both. We don't want to let the nanny go, because we are exiting the au pair program and need the nanny later for more hours. And yes, nanny is still more cost effective at 40 hours and we get our spare room back. |
Look, these salary comparisons between nannies and au pairs are not helpful because it’s apples to oranges. An au pair has literally no living expenses. And they get a visa - probably the only plausible avenue to the vast majority of them. If au pairs want to come to the US and earn tons of money, they need to get a different visa.
My nanny does not live in my house, drive my car, use a phone on my plan, eat my food, and come on every vacation complete with her own dedicated bathroom. Au pairs love to only count the $$ in their pocket, but the benefits to them go way beyond that. In any event, it seems like the gap between hosts and AP’s expectations keeps widening, and the new rules make it likely that the only hosts who would find benefit from the program are those who have a desire for the kids to be spoken to in a particular language 24/7. Otherwise, it’s just not worth the hassle of hosting. |
OK. Try taking those things away and see what kind of AP you get (or don’t get). LOL |
Totally possible depending on your lifestyle and generosity towards AP. Some examples - 1. We eat high quality, organic (aka expensive) food. Au pair added $1k/month to grocery bill. $12k annual expense. 2. We take expensive vacations. Need au pair airfare, another hotel room + dining out + room service + entertainment + transportation x 3 trips per year = $7k extra costs 3. Skiing. Paid for au pairs lift tickets, food, skis, poles, helmets = $1k extra 4. We eat out 2x /week. AP meal = $20 x 2 x 52 = $2k extra None of this is required but if you live a nice lifestyle and include Au pair, I could see how you could surpass a nanny’s salary. |