Reply to Do most AP expect more than the $200 stipend?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My AP told me her costs were around $600. TOTAL. That's very little for a year of all expenses being paid for in exchange for up to 45 hours/week of work (less than many Americans work each week). I do think the agencies are out to get a lot per AP from each host family in addition to the expenses they cover, but to say the APs are paying for a lot is just silly. [/quote]

You are aware that $600 can be A LOT of money for a young adult right out of school or from a country where the salary for a ya (if they even have a job, looking at the 25%+ unemployment rate of young adults in Spain or Portugal or Greece) is not that of a similarly qualified ya in the US? You are also aware that the costs for the AP differ by country and agency and can actually go into the thousands (including visa fees, travel to the nearest embassy etc.)? You are aware that some agencies make their APs pay for their health insurance (that includes CC who charge $625 for their health insurance alone)? And they pay all this upfront without knowing if they will be able to complete their year? They lose all their (most likely hard earned) money if they can't complete their year. Plus any only half-intelligent AP should make sure they have enough money put away before coming to the US to cover a one-way ticket home... just in case.

Is the program expensive for HFs? Yes. Would it be nicer if those thousands of dollars could go into the AP's pocket? Yes.
But APs pretty much pay for getting a job (imagine your employer telling you that they can only hire you if you are willing to pay them a month or two of your future salary upfront... we'd all cry pyramid scheme), a job they will get paid to do (and come on, $5 an hour which the have to be taxes from is not a lot - yes I know, the perks... the car, the room, the food, it all adds up for all of us but APs do not get rich by watching our children) but come on. If it wasn't worth it for us families we wouldn't do it. We'd pay a professional nanny to watch our kids even on a split schedule and simply pay her as if she was working full days if we really hated the program (and its cost) so much. It's still financially or personally worth it for us for some reason. Millions of other families have figured out a way to live their lives without APs, we could too, if we wanted to or had to.
And in the end we always have more pull. If we didn't join those agencies with their "ridiculous" fees the agencies couldn't charge them. We are customers. If the customers decide the price of a product isn't worth it for them, the price will decrease or the product will disappear. Obviously the money we give the agencies is still worth it to us or we wouldn't be doing it. There are other options. Less convenient maybe but convenience is also something we pay for. Every day. By buying our coffee at Starbucks instead of making it at home. Or getting pizza delivered instead of spending time on cooking dinner.[/quote]

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