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Au Pair Discussion
Reply to "Is an Au Pair worth it for the convenience if I am basically seeking a better work life balance?"
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[quote=Anonymous]If you happen to find an au pair that is great and fits well with your family, then it will definitely help with your needs. But that is the key - finding someone good, which is very hard especially if you have high standards. Just think about how hard it is to find a good babysitter or nanny - finding a good au pair is much harder considering your interviews are all via video-call, there is often a language barrier, checking references can be challenging, etc. If you need a driver, it is basically impossible to check if they are a good driver before they arrive and it is not uncommon to hear about au pairs getting in car accidents. I have also found that the agencies can apply a lot of pressure during matching. Also, the au pairs are all on social media and I have noticed that this can make their expectations very high. Also keep in mind that there is basically no screening by the agency of the au pairs - you really have to scrutinize everything - this is basically 100% your responsibility. And if it turns out that once the au pair arrives, it is not a good fit, the re-match process is really terrible, drawn-out and stressful. The agencies usually have very strict refund policies, so you may be out a couple of grand. If you are going to do it, just realize that there is a lot of work that will need to go in on your end and honestly it is really not that much cheaper than a nanny. If convenience and price are your main concerns, then I would probably recommend doing more daycare - the au pair route is risky.[/quote]
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