Stipend changes -

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the PP: minimum wage where I am with room and board on top, then? There's no downward adjustment of minimum wage to account for the room and board? Thank you, just making sure I've got it right and I appreciate your super helpful response!

The stipend is already based on a formula to deduct 40% for room and board. However, it does not take localities into account (both minimum wage and cost of living differences).

Many families just pay stipend because of this. You will find some families believe they're morally obligated to pay full minimum wage without deductions. This decision is ultimately up to you on what you believe is fair and doable for your situation.

Also, there has not been an adjustment to the stipend for many years now. So it's potentially overdue.

This. We are a family who treats the stipend as a minimum. We are in Virginia and pay the minimum wage, all documented.

The range for us is 200-$362.50

However our kids are school aged and we usually only use 25hts at the very most.

The day I'm required to pay my AP $362 on top of room, board, insurance, etc is the day I leave the program.

...So do it. No one is begging families who think $196/week is generous to stay in the program. Find a nanny, find a sitter, use daycare, or stay home with your own kids if you can't stomach paying an au pair more than $4 an hour. It' 2019. $362 a week for childcare is still cheap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the PP: minimum wage where I am with room and board on top, then? There's no downward adjustment of minimum wage to account for the room and board? Thank you, just making sure I've got it right and I appreciate your super helpful response!

The stipend is already based on a formula to deduct 40% for room and board. However, it does not take localities into account (both minimum wage and cost of living differences).

Many families just pay stipend because of this. You will find some families believe they're morally obligated to pay full minimum wage without deductions. This decision is ultimately up to you on what you believe is fair and doable for your situation.

Also, there has not been an adjustment to the stipend for many years now. So it's potentially overdue.

This. We are a family who treats the stipend as a minimum. We are in Virginia and pay the minimum wage, all documented.

The range for us is 200-$362.50

However our kids are school aged and we usually only use 25hts at the very most.

The day I'm required to pay my AP $362 on top of room, board, insurance, etc is the day I leave the program.

...So do it. No one is begging families who think $196/week is generous to stay in the program. Find a nanny, find a sitter, use daycare, or stay home with your own kids if you can't stomach paying an au pair more than $4 an hour. It' 2019. $362 a week for childcare is still cheap.

My AP works 20 hours a week tops (and that's because we pad her schedule with 5 hours of "house work", like doing the laundry. She makes close to $10/hour, not including room/board. Look, I get that you think they're underpaid indentured servants but it goes the other way too. If this program was so horrible, there wouldn't be way more APs looking to come here than there are HFs for them. If I leave the program, how does that help them?

[Anonymous]

Two things to those that whine about the poor, abused APs.

1)Learn to do math. The $196 is not all they get. They do not have expenses. You need to factor in all of the things that get covered by the HFs before you plead indentured servant
2)The point of the program is not "Come to America and makes lots of money!!!!" The program is a CULTURAL EXCHANGE. Look at the website of any of the agencies and you will see this. If you are confused, I suggest you LEARN TO READ.

[Anonymous]

They also aren’t being paid a wage, it is a stipend. Stipends aren’t the same thing and shouldn’t be subject to a minimum wage law in the same way.

[Anonymous]

Neither one of you two PPs have a valid argument, but ok.

[Anonymous]

Pay as much as you can. I try to be generous when I can.

Part of the problem is the fees to the agency are way too high. If they would lower them, that would be great. I’d much rather give my money to the au pair than the agency!!

OP the guidelines are muddy and not clear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Two things to those that whine about the poor, abused APs.

1)Learn to do math. The $196 is not all they get. They do not have expenses. You need to factor in all of the things that get covered by the HFs before you plead indentured servant
2)The point of the program is not "Come to America and makes lots of money!!!!" The program is a CULTURAL EXCHANGE. Look at the website of any of the agencies and you will see this. If you are confused, I suggest you LEARN TO READ.

1) That's how math works. The fees you pay the agency go to the agency, not to the AP. You chose to join the program and pay the fee-she owes you nothing for that. She might not be paying rent (because even if she wanted to, it's a program qualification) but there are posts every day about how host parents don't want to pay for their food, gas, toiletries, etc. So they do have expenses. Everything costs money, not just housing. Living in your spare bedroom (that would otherwise be treated as a closet...) isn't that thrilling.

2) If the whole point of the program is CULTURAL EXCHANGE then why do they need to do laundry, wash your dishes or take out your trash? They should be out soaking up all the amazing culture instead of fussing around your house cleaning up after your kids. I'm sure you're very concerned that they experience so much CULTURAL EXCHANGE so your AP has few hours, access to a car, and you live in a great area with a ton of FREE stuff to do (because otherwise I'm not sure how she can afford to experience so much CULTURE).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two things to those that whine about the poor, abused APs.

1)Learn to do math. The $196 is not all they get. They do not have expenses. You need to factor in all of the things that get covered by the HFs before you plead indentured servant
2)The point of the program is not "Come to America and makes lots of money!!!!" The program is a CULTURAL EXCHANGE. Look at the website of any of the agencies and you will see this. If you are confused, I suggest you LEARN TO READ.

1) That's how math works. The fees you pay the agency go to the agency, not to the AP. You chose to join the program and pay the fee-she owes you nothing for that. She might not be paying rent (because even if she wanted to, it's a program qualification) but there are posts every day about how host parents don't want to pay for their food, gas, toiletries, etc. So they do have expenses. Everything costs money, not just housing. Living in your spare bedroom (that would otherwise be treated as a closet...) isn't that thrilling.

2) If the whole point of the program is CULTURAL EXCHANGE then why do they need to do laundry, wash your dishes or take out your trash? They should be out soaking up all the amazing culture instead of fussing around your house cleaning up after your kids. I'm sure you're very concerned that they experience so much CULTURAL EXCHANGE so your AP has few hours, access to a car, and you live in a great area with a ton of FREE stuff to do (because otherwise I'm not sure how she can afford to experience so much CULTURE).

To your second point, most of the people on this board live in DC so the au pairs do have access to an almost unlimited array of free cultural institutions. My four au pairs have all used the city as their playground very happily while getting around on the unlimited metro pass that I provided for them each month.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two things to those that whine about the poor, abused APs.

1)Learn to do math. The $196 is not all they get. They do not have expenses. You need to factor in all of the things that get covered by the HFs before you plead indentured servant
2)The point of the program is not "Come to America and makes lots of money!!!!" The program is a CULTURAL EXCHANGE. Look at the website of any of the agencies and you will see this. If you are confused, I suggest you LEARN TO READ.

1) That's how math works. The fees you pay the agency go to the agency, not to the AP. You chose to join the program and pay the fee-she owes you nothing for that. She might not be paying rent (because even if she wanted to, it's a program qualification) but there are posts every day about how host parents don't want to pay for their food, gas, toiletries, etc. So they do have expenses. Everything costs money, not just housing. Living in your spare bedroom (that would otherwise be treated as a closet...) isn't that thrilling.

2) If the whole point of the program is CULTURAL EXCHANGE then why do they need to do laundry, wash your dishes or take out your trash? They should be out soaking up all the amazing culture instead of fussing around your house cleaning up after your kids. I'm sure you're very concerned that they experience so much CULTURAL EXCHANGE so your AP has few hours, access to a car, and you live in a great area with a ton of FREE stuff to do (because otherwise I'm not sure how she can afford to experience so much CULTURE).

Hi bitter “nanny.” I actually enjoy your post because they are so dumb. Your stupidly is entertaining. However, I do feel sorry if you really are a nanny. I certainly wouldn’t want someone at your below level of intelligence anywhere near my children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the PP: minimum wage where I am with room and board on top, then? There's no downward adjustment of minimum wage to account for the room and board? Thank you, just making sure I've got it right and I appreciate your super helpful response!

The stipend is already based on a formula to deduct 40% for room and board. However, it does not take localities into account (both minimum wage and cost of living differences).

Many families just pay stipend because of this. You will find some families believe they're morally obligated to pay full minimum wage without deductions. This decision is ultimately up to you on what you believe is fair and doable for your situation.

Also, there has not been an adjustment to the stipend for many years now. So it's potentially overdue.

This. We are a family who treats the stipend as a minimum. We are in Virginia and pay the minimum wage, all documented.

The range for us is 200-$362.50

However our kids are school aged and we usually only use 25hts at the very most.

The day I'm required to pay my AP $362 on top of room, board, insurance, etc is the day I leave the program.

...So do it. No one is begging families who think $196/week is generous to stay in the program. Find a nanny, find a sitter, use daycare, or stay home with your own kids if you can't stomach paying an au pair more than $4 an hour. It' 2019. $362 a week for childcare is still cheap.

My AP works 20 hours a week tops (and that's because we pad her schedule with 5 hours of "house work", like doing the laundry. She makes close to $10/hour, not including room/board. Look, I get that you think they're underpaid indentured servants but it goes the other way too. If this program was so horrible, there wouldn't be way more APs looking to come here than there are HFs for them. If I leave the program, how does that help them?

You seem really confused.

We pay $10/hr. It’s usually $250/week. Sounds like you’d be in a similar situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the PP: minimum wage where I am with room and board on top, then? There's no downward adjustment of minimum wage to account for the room and board? Thank you, just making sure I've got it right and I appreciate your super helpful response!

The stipend is already based on a formula to deduct 40% for room and board. However, it does not take localities into account (both minimum wage and cost of living differences).

Many families just pay stipend because of this. You will find some families believe they're morally obligated to pay full minimum wage without deductions. This decision is ultimately up to you on what you believe is fair and doable for your situation.

Also, there has not been an adjustment to the stipend for many years now. So it's potentially overdue.

This. We are a family who treats the stipend as a minimum. We are in Virginia and pay the minimum wage, all documented.

The range for us is 200-$362.50

However our kids are school aged and we usually only use 25hts at the very most.

The day I'm required to pay my AP $362 on top of room, board, insurance, etc is the day I leave the program.

...So do it. No one is begging families who think $196/week is generous to stay in the program. Find a nanny, find a sitter, use daycare, or stay home with your own kids if you can't stomach paying an au pair more than $4 an hour. It' 2019. $362 a week for childcare is still cheap.

My AP works 20 hours a week tops (and that's because we pad her schedule with 5 hours of "house work", like doing the laundry. She makes close to $10/hour, not including room/board. Look, I get that you think they're underpaid indentured servants but it goes the other way too. If this program was so horrible, there wouldn't be way more APs looking to come here than there are HFs for them. If I leave the program, how does that help them?

You seem really confused.

We pay $10/hr. It’s usually $250/week. Sounds like you’d be in a similar situation.

I'm confused? $10/hour times 20 hours =$200. So, yeah.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two things to those that whine about the poor, abused APs.

1)Learn to do math. The $196 is not all they get. They do not have expenses. You need to factor in all of the things that get covered by the HFs before you plead indentured servant
2)The point of the program is not "Come to America and makes lots of money!!!!" The program is a CULTURAL EXCHANGE. Look at the website of any of the agencies and you will see this. If you are confused, I suggest you LEARN TO READ.

1) That's how math works. The fees you pay the agency go to the agency, not to the AP. You chose to join the program and pay the fee-she owes you nothing for that. She might not be paying rent (because even if she wanted to, it's a program qualification) but there are posts every day about how host parents don't want to pay for their food, gas, toiletries, etc. So they do have expenses. Everything costs money, not just housing. Living in your spare bedroom (that would otherwise be treated as a closet...) isn't that thrilling.

2) If the whole point of the program is CULTURAL EXCHANGE then why do they need to do laundry, wash your dishes or take out your trash? They should be out soaking up all the amazing culture instead of fussing around your house cleaning up after your kids. I'm sure you're very concerned that they experience so much CULTURAL EXCHANGE so your AP has few hours, access to a car, and you live in a great area with a ton of FREE stuff to do (because otherwise I'm not sure how she can afford to experience so much CULTURE).

Hi bitter “nanny.” I actually enjoy your post because they are so dumb. Your stupidly is entertaining. However, I do feel sorry if you really are a nanny. I certainly wouldn’t want someone at your below level of intelligence anywhere near my children.

*Stupidity, not stupidly. Also it should be "posts" not post or your second sentence is grammatically incorrect. I'm not a nanny anymore, and I have a master's degree. Your last sentence that begins "Someone at your below level of intelligence" doesn't make any sense either. Seems like someone needs to go back to school! If you're trying to insult someone else's intelligence without directly refuting any of the points they've made, you should at least make sure your own response is coherent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Two things to those that whine about the poor, abused APs.

1)Learn to do math. The $196 is not all they get. They do not have expenses. You need to factor in all of the things that get covered by the HFs before you plead indentured servant
2)The point of the program is not "Come to America and makes lots of money!!!!" The program is a CULTURAL EXCHANGE. Look at the website of any of the agencies and you will see this. If you are confused, I suggest you LEARN TO READ.

1) That's how math works. The fees you pay the agency go to the agency, not to the AP. You chose to join the program and pay the fee-she owes you nothing for that. She might not be paying rent (because even if she wanted to, it's a program qualification) but there are posts every day about how host parents don't want to pay for their food, gas, toiletries, etc. So they do have expenses. Everything costs money, not just housing. Living in your spare bedroom (that would otherwise be treated as a closet...) isn't that thrilling.

2) If the whole point of the program is CULTURAL EXCHANGE then why do they need to do laundry, wash your dishes or take out your trash? They should be out soaking up all the amazing culture instead of fussing around your house cleaning up after your kids. I'm sure you're very concerned that they experience so much CULTURAL EXCHANGE so your AP has few hours, access to a car, and you live in a great area with a ton of FREE stuff to do (because otherwise I'm not sure how she can afford to experience so much CULTURE).

Hi bitter “nanny.” I actually enjoy your post because they are so dumb. Your stupidly is entertaining. However, I do feel sorry if you really are a nanny. I certainly wouldn’t want someone at your below level of intelligence anywhere near my children.

*Stupidity, not stupidly. Also it should be "posts" not post or your second sentence is grammatically incorrect. I'm not a nanny anymore, and I have a master's degree. Your last sentence that begins "Someone at your below level of intelligence" doesn't make any sense either. Seems like someone needs to go back to school! If you're trying to insult someone else's intelligence without directly refuting any of the points they've made, you should at least make sure your own response is coherent.

What does any of this have to do with an AP forum? Quit it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To the PP: minimum wage where I am with room and board on top, then? There's no downward adjustment of minimum wage to account for the room and board? Thank you, just making sure I've got it right and I appreciate your super helpful response!

The stipend is already based on a formula to deduct 40% for room and board. However, it does not take localities into account (both minimum wage and cost of living differences).

Many families just pay stipend because of this. You will find some families believe they're morally obligated to pay full minimum wage without deductions. This decision is ultimately up to you on what you believe is fair and doable for your situation.

Also, there has not been an adjustment to the stipend for many years now. So it's potentially overdue.

This. We are a family who treats the stipend as a minimum. We are in Virginia and pay the minimum wage, all documented.

The range for us is 200-$362.50

However our kids are school aged and we usually only use 25hts at the very most.

The day I'm required to pay my AP $362 on top of room, board, insurance, etc is the day I leave the program.

...So do it. No one is begging families who think $196/week is generous to stay in the program. Find a nanny, find a sitter, use daycare, or stay home with your own kids if you can't stomach paying an au pair more than $4 an hour. It' 2019. $362 a week for childcare is still cheap.

My AP works 20 hours a week tops (and that's because we pad her schedule with 5 hours of "house work", like doing the laundry. She makes close to $10/hour, not including room/board. Look, I get that you think they're underpaid indentured servants but it goes the other way too. If this program was so horrible, there wouldn't be way more APs looking to come here than there are HFs for them. If I leave the program, how does that help them?

You seem really confused.

We pay $10/hr. It’s usually $250/week. Sounds like you’d be in a similar situation.

I'm confused? $10/hour times 20 hours =$200. So, yeah.

Yes, I know. So for you, negotiating based on an hourly rate would not lead to a stipend of $362.

[Anonymous]

I don't even have $362 left over at the end of the month!

Sooo happy my APs are here for the experience of improving their English (in order to get a better job back home) and getting to live with an American family. Yaaay my Brazilian and French APs!