Au pair -- indentured servitude or cultural exchange

[Anonymous]

Jeff said to bring argument to Off Topic and so I am.

The only purpose of this program is cheap childcare for cheap Americans. I do not see how it could ever be a cultural exchange program when 45 hours a week is taking care of children.

No overtime is paid. Frequently, there are 4 children for the au pair to care for.

The program needs to be revamped as follows:

1. Can work no more than 40 hours a week.
2. Program conforms to US labor laws.
3. Maximum of two children to care for.
4. Paid prevailing minimum wage of jurisdiction in which the host family lives.
5. No housework or yardwork, other than cleaning her room. Straightening children's room but no vaccuming. No cooking, cleaning kitchen for entire family and NEVER laundry for parents.
6. Every hour on the clock, e.g., AP has to pick up child from school at 3:30, on clock for travel time to school.
7. Two full weekends, Friday, 6 pm to Monday, 6 am, free.
8. All Federal holidays off.
9. If AP is taken on holiday with family, no taking care of kids. If taking care if kids is expected, then she has a private room.
10. Holiday meals cooked by host family, no using AP as maid.

Flame away, I 'm asbestos!

[Anonymous]

If you really want to be heard, it would help if you knew anything about the program and had some experience with it. Oh, and didn't use inflammatory and incomparable terms like indentured servitude and slave.

2, 5, 6, 9, and 10 are already in the rules.

Au pairs choose their families and many, many turn down families with more than two kids. Ask a family with four kids how challenging it is to find an au pair. If any au pair doesnt want a family with more than two kids, she doesn't have to have one.

The issue with the weekends and holidays point is that most host families are in the program for the flexibility. Remove that and there are even fewer host families interested. There are already way more au pairs than host families willing to take on the expense and risk. Again, host families are required to be up front with their schedules from the beginning and au pairs make the choice of family when they are matching.

I would personally be fine paying my au pair more in stipend, but would not pay more for the program overall. The program also includes an $8,000 agency fee, $500 towards classes, and housing and food expenses for the year. Most host families also pay for a cell phone, provide a car and pay for car insurance and licensing fees. But you know this because every time something like this is posted, we tell you this and you ignore it.

What is your proposal for how these expenses will be folded into your minimum wage proposal? Or do you expect that host families would pay minimum wage and then also all of these additional expenses plus hosting a young, foreign adult and treating her like part of the family?

Also, what about those of us who use fewer than 45 hours? Our au pairs work 30 hours a week most weeks. If I have to pay minimum wage by the hour, do I pay the full amount of the stipend you're proposing anyway or does it become truly an hourly job?

When you respond, please take into account the additional facts presented here and develop proposals for how this would actually look instead of being broad and non-specific and inflammatory.

Also, please identify your relationship to the program and what research you've done to ensure that your proposals would be effective and welcomed by the au pair community. As it stands, your proposals would kill the program. I think you'd have thousands of very unhappy au pairs if that happened. But perhaps that's your intention?

Know that it's not your opinion itself that is the reason you are banned from the main board. We would welcome reforms to the program that make sense and make it better for all. Happy to hear from you with those if you have them.

If you do not respond having thought through these additional issues, then we will know you're not truly trying to solve anything and we can continue to ignore you on this board and go back to trying to make the board useful by eliminating people like you who are trying to ruin it.

[Anonymous]

Thank you, OP, for exposing the real truths behind the scam of cultural exchange. Many of us know it's a national embarrassment.

So admin is now not allowing controversial discussion about the au pair program in the au pair forum? Because au pair programs are major advertisers here? How is that ethical?

[Anonymous]

OP what is your line of work?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP what is your line of work?

Not OP, but how is that relevant? Please stay on topic.

[Anonymous]

OP here. We are leaving on vacation and I will post reply to 06:30 and anyone else after we return.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP what is your line of work?

bitter nanny?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you really want to be heard, it would help if you knew anything about the program and had some experience with it. Oh, and didn't use inflammatory and incomparable terms like indentured servitude and slave.

2, 5, 6, 9, and 10 are already in the rules.

Au pairs choose their families and many, many turn down families with more than two kids. Ask a family with four kids how challenging it is to find an au pair. If any au pair doesnt want a family with more than two kids, she doesn't have to have one.

The issue with the weekends and holidays point is that most host families are in the program for the flexibility. Remove that and there are even fewer host families interested. There are already way more au pairs than host families willing to take on the expense and risk. Again, host families are required to be up front with their schedules from the beginning and au pairs make the choice of family when they are matching.

I would personally be fine paying my au pair more in stipend, but would not pay more for the program overall. The program also includes an $8,000 agency fee, $500 towards classes, and housing and food expenses for the year. Most host families also pay for a cell phone, provide a car and pay for car insurance and licensing fees. But you know this because every time something like this is posted, we tell you this and you ignore it.

What is your proposal for how these expenses will be folded into your minimum wage proposal? Or do you expect that host families would pay minimum wage and then also all of these additional expenses plus hosting a young, foreign adult and treating her like part of the family?

Also, what about those of us who use fewer than 45 hours? Our au pairs work 30 hours a week most weeks. If I have to pay minimum wage by the hour, do I pay the full amount of the stipend you're proposing anyway or does it become truly an hourly job?

When you respond, please take into account the additional facts presented here and develop proposals for how this would actually look instead of being broad and non-specific and inflammatory.

Also, please identify your relationship to the program and what research you've done to ensure that your proposals would be effective and welcomed by the au pair community. As it stands, your proposals would kill the program. I think you'd have thousands of very unhappy au pairs if that happened. But perhaps that's your intention?

Know that it's not your opinion itself that is the reason you are banned from the main board. We would welcome reforms to the program that make sense and make it better for all. Happy to hear from you with those if you have them.

If you do not respond having thought through these additional issues, then we will know you're not truly trying to solve anything and we can continue to ignore you on this board and go back to trying to make the board useful by eliminating people like you who are trying to ruin it.

Excellent post. Thank you for shutting that nonsense OP keeps spouting down.

[Anonymous]

This problem needs investigative reporting, especially interviews with the girls getting mysteriously sent home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This problem needs investigative reporting, especially interviews with the girls getting mysteriously sent home.

What does this even mean?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This problem needs investigative reporting, especially interviews with the girls getting mysteriously sent home.

What does this even mean?

Yet another mystery.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Jeff said to bring argument to Off Topic and so I am.

The only purpose of this program is cheap childcare for cheap Americans. I do not see how it could ever be a cultural exchange program when 45 hours a week is taking care of children.

No overtime is paid. Frequently, there are 4 children for the au pair to care for.

The program needs to be revamped as follows:

1. Can work no more than 40 hours a week.
2. Program conforms to US labor laws.
3. Maximum of two children to care for.
4. Paid prevailing minimum wage of jurisdiction in which the host family lives.
5. No housework or yardwork, other than cleaning her room. Straightening children's room but no vaccuming. No cooking, cleaning kitchen for entire family and NEVER laundry for parents.
6. Every hour on the clock, e.g., AP has to pick up child from school at 3:30, on clock for travel time to school.
7. Two full weekends, Friday, 6 pm to Monday, 6 am, free.
8. All Federal holidays off.
9. If AP is taken on holiday with family, no taking care of kids. If taking care if kids is expected, then she has a private room.
10. Holiday meals cooked by host family, no using AP as maid.

Flame away, I 'm asbestos!

From what I've seen, op is 100% right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jeff said to bring argument to Off Topic and so I am.

The only purpose of this program is cheap childcare for cheap Americans. I do not see how it could ever be a cultural exchange program when 45 hours a week is taking care of children.

No overtime is paid. Frequently, there are 4 children for the au pair to care for.

The program needs to be revamped as follows:

1. Can work no more than 40 hours a week.
2. Program conforms to US labor laws.
3. Maximum of two children to care for.
4. Paid prevailing minimum wage of jurisdiction in which the host family lives.
5. No housework or yardwork, other than cleaning her room. Straightening children's room but no vaccuming. No cooking, cleaning kitchen for entire family and NEVER laundry for parents.
6. Every hour on the clock, e.g., AP has to pick up child from school at 3:30, on clock for travel time to school.
7. Two full weekends, Friday, 6 pm to Monday, 6 am, free.
8. All Federal holidays off.
9. If AP is taken on holiday with family, no taking care of kids. If taking care if kids is expected, then she has a private room.
10. Holiday meals cooked by host family, no using AP as maid.

Flame away, I 'm asbestos!

From what I've seen, op is 100% right.

And you've seen it...how? As PP said earlier she's got a bunch of assumptions wrong.
As a HF who has had many happy APs, I question where you are getting your information and what your relationship is to the childcare industry.

However I would welcome this:

1) Transparency from the agencies about the rate of rematches
2) Transparency from the agencies about the number of rematches due to various reasons including host family rule violations
3) Increased competition by agencies (State Department should increase the number of agencies allowed)
4) An impartial hotline or other resource for au pairs who feel abused.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Jeff said to bring argument to Off Topic and so I am.

The only purpose of this program is cheap childcare for cheap Americans. I do not see how it could ever be a cultural exchange program when 45 hours a week is taking care of children.

No overtime is paid. Frequently, there are 4 children for the au pair to care for.

The program needs to be revamped as follows:

1. Can work no more than 40 hours a week.
2. Program conforms to US labor laws.
3. Maximum of two children to care for.
4. Paid prevailing minimum wage of jurisdiction in which the host family lives.
5. No housework or yardwork, other than cleaning her room. Straightening children's room but no vaccuming. No cooking, cleaning kitchen for entire family and NEVER laundry for parents.
6. Every hour on the clock, e.g., AP has to pick up child from school at 3:30, on clock for travel time to school.
7. Two full weekends, Friday, 6 pm to Monday, 6 am, free.
8. All Federal holidays off.
9. If AP is taken on holiday with family, no taking care of kids. If taking care if kids is expected, then she has a private room.
10. Holiday meals cooked by host family, no using AP as maid.

Flame away, I 'm asbestos!

From what I've seen, op is 100% right.

And you've seen it...how? As PP said earlier she's got a bunch of assumptions wrong.
As a HF who has had many happy APs, I question where you are getting your information and what your relationship is to the childcare industry.

However I would welcome this:

1) Transparency from the agencies about the rate of rematches
2) Transparency from the agencies about the number of rematches due to various reasons including host family rule violations
3) Increased competition by agencies (State Department should increase the number of agencies allowed)
4) An impartial hotline or other resource for au pairs who feel abused.

I'm another host mom. I would also welcome those changes. Also, better coordination between agencies so that if a host parent or au pair breaks the rules, they are officially prevented from getting another au pair and/or family.

And PP - I posted above that the OP was actually wrong in many ways - and suggested a few things that are already rules. So to come on and say that "from what you've seen, the OP is right" doesn't make any sense. What do you think is right? And how would you propose the changes get made and enforced?

Again, I'm not opposed to changes - in fact, I think there need to be some and PP with the four options lists some great ones. I'm not against discussing that there could be things improved. But it's only valuable when both sides are informed and communicate their concerns and options fully. I've reasonably and knowledgeably responded to the OP. I would love for her to do the same.

[Anonymous]

I'd like to know why the rematch process is given only 2 weeks by the agencies.