Au Pair just asked for more money
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Anonymous
Out au pairs work a always work split schedule, way less than 40 hours a week. (Even in the pandemic.) That left time for full time school for the one au pair who wanted to do that. We paid for the program, which was a professional certification program that the au pair wanted to pursue. She used it to springboard into a more advanced postgrad professional program back home. We have invited very au pair to go a similar route and have a meaningful education experience. Some have taken advantage, some have not really had an interest. |
Anonymous
No, it's not. So, here's a classic situation: Family has 2 kids, 7 and 9. They're not mature enough to be left at home alone. Parent 1 leaves around 2 hours before they go to school, and returns about an hour after they get home. Parent 2 leaves 45 minutes to an hour before they go to school, then gets home 3 hours after they get home. Parents try getting high school kids, but that falls through. They try college kids, but that falls through. They try sahp in their neighborhood, and that works until there's a field trip, dental appointment, their kid is sick... They try to find a nanny, and have to get two different nannies, because they're trying to cobble together full time hours from part time jobs, and the hours the family needs are the same core hours EVERY family with school age kids needs. Both nannies move on as soon as they find better pay and/or better hours. The only option left is an AP, and the AP is glad to have such short hours. |
Anonymous
| This comes up every single time a family moans about having their fourth college kid flake in one semester. Many, many families need a maximum of 3 hours per day. Their kids are in school, and they do camps when they're not. Now, it's different for some during covid, but thigns have changed for everyone during covid. |
Anonymous
No worries. Legislation is on the way. You can have 3 hours as long as you commit to the fair comp, MA rules, you match successfully, and you uphold the cultural exchange. Clearly too many of you are of the exploiter persuasion for this to be left well alone. Monday morning, my first call is the DC OAG. |
Anonymous
| My letter to Santa: a hefty donation to the domestic workers union and anything else in support of the MA bill being enacted as the law of the land. Rewatch the movie Help, host mothers, feel the familiarity. I hope it gives you the creeps it gave me to read what you wrote to defend 4 bucks an hour |
Anonymous
Yes. We use about an hour in the morning and two hours in the afternoon, plus early release days, teacher work days and snow days. Occassionally we have a week between camp ending and school starting and use close to 45 hours, but it's one or two weeks a year. No nanny wants this job. |
Anonymous
Sadly does not justify keeping a whole cohort at 4/hr |
Anonymous
Me too. Never would have been an issue I knew about. Thank you dcum |
Anonymous
You are just so wrong. This is not the nature of the relationship for most host families whatsoever. The au pair has a lovely life that is fully funded. They are a full member of the family. The stipend serves as bar money and a travel allowance, as the au pair has zero living expenses. It's entirely unlike a minimum wage nanny who is scraping by and struggling to make ends meet. The premise that au pairs should be treated like a minimum wage nanny and be expected to pay their own way would be a step down. |
Anonymous
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So wrong. As is a federal judge, the entire MA Senate, but you are right. They love it. It’s a privilege to serve you.
I assure you they’d love it more if the families paid fairly and were committed to the cultural exchange. More than enough such families to replace you if you won’t pay the minimum |
Anonymous
| There clearly is a disconnect between what host families report as the experience and what au pairs report. That is what the OP was referring to when they talked about people reminiscing about slavery-not that APs are slaves- but that there is a very different perspective between those in power and those serving. People in the post-Antebellum South insisted that their slaves were a very loved part of the family, but the slaves did not perceive it as so. Just as today's testimony shows that many APs are very saddened by their lowly status in their new families. No one is saying that APs were captured, sold into slavery, have no recourse...rather we are saying that it can be very painful to expect to be an exchange student and then be treated as a servant. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
I agree. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
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