Anonymous wrote:People who use less, do you still pay for 45? I'm thinking about an au pair but would only need 35 or so.

It's cheap labor but she gets paid the same whether she works 45 or 4.5 hrs. week. I bet you are shorting her, aren't you?

I've been curious about this too, as we are about to have our first au pair and most definitely need the 45 hours a week that is available. We both work full-time and we're even considering having another childcare situation for one morning a week so that we can shift her hours because I work evenings sometimes and my husband has a scheduled activity once a week, things like that that we could benefit from freeing up a 4-hour block of time.

I see so many people say that they don't use the hours up but I assume they have all school-aged children.

We use 25-30 during the school year and then all 45 during many of the summer weeks. I actually like having a buffer in there - if I only need her scheduled for 25 hours a week then I can ask her to cover a sick day or another last-minute request without juggling other hours around (yes, she agreed to this kind of flexibility when we matched and throughout the year, yes, she has the option to see no without repurcussions, and yes, I am similarly flexible with her needs when possible).

No, you don't pay any less if you don't use the 45 hours. It bothers me when host parents feel like they need to use up all the hours to get their money's worth. The great thing about Au pairs and the reason we choose them is forthr flexibility. So you're paying for the total hours but also for the flexibility in the schedule from day to day and week to week. It's so nice to be able to have coverage for 20 hours one week and 45 hours the next if you need it.

And just to add, our first au pair actually did work 45 hours each week because that was the schedule we needed. I have no issue with using all the hours if you need them.

APIA has the Educare program, which costs slightly less, and the APs work only 30 hours/week. SOmeone one aupairmom did a cost breakdown analysis and found it was actually as expensive to have an educare as a regular AP because you have to pay double for the classes. We had an Educare last year and certainly found this to be the case so we went back to the reg AP program. But on paper, educares cost less and work fewer hours.

We usually use between 25-30 hrs a week but very occsaionally go less (15 or even 20) or more (35-40), depending on the week. Last night DH and I went out to dinner, and tonight I have bookclub and he has a tennis match, so just there, between those activities, we added 7 additional hours. Even if you don't usually use 45 hrs, it's nice to have them available! Last year we had to budget to the minute to make sure we didn't go over and could never just spontaneously go out, as we did last night (AP had a friend over and kids were asleep), because we were always being so careful not to go over 30.

Anonymous wrote:Op here. Just as I said in my earlier post I saw that some use fewer than the 45 hours. We use all 45. Husband works late a lot and travels a lot, and I am in school. Kids aren't in school yet, so we use the hours. Just wanted to ask is all.

16:53- you have to pay an agency fee to the agency and then a weekly stipend of $196 and some change. This is the stipend for whether you use 45 hours or less. There are "Au pair extraordinaire" who make a little bit more, but are required to work less hours.

Check out one of the agency websites. I use Au pair in America. There is also cultural care and au pair care.

Au pair extraordinaires work 45 hours, too:

http://www.aupairinamerica.com/options/extraordinaire.asp

You have to pay the same no matter how many hrs you use.

Op here. Just as I said in my earlier post I saw that some use fewer than the 45 hours. We use all 45. Husband works late a lot and travels a lot, and I am in school. Kids aren't in school yet, so we use the hours. Just wanted to ask is all.

16:53- you have to pay an agency fee to the agency and then a weekly stipend of $196 and some change. This is the stipend for whether you use 45 hours or less. There are "Au pair extraordinaire" who make a little bit more, but are required to work less hours.

Check out one of the agency websites. I use Au pair in America. There is also cultural care and au pair care.

People who use less, do you still pay for 45? I'm thinking about an au pair but would only need 35 or so.

We don't use 45 consistently. When school is in session we normally schedule 35 hours but also ask for some additional tasks that aren't necessarily done during the 35 hours (such as kid laundry). Some weeks, she ends up working only 30 hours or so. Other weeks (when school is out, kid is sick, etc.) ends up closer to 40. In the summer, we use the full 45 for probably 3 or 4 weeks of summer (those weeks when no grandparents visiting, no camp, no vacation travel) - even exceed the 45 at times (we pay for any extra hours, usually not more than an excess 5 hours).

We used to until our youngest started Kindergarten. Now we use fewer hours unless its a break or summer. Then we tend to use all 45.

We scheulde the full 45 hours almost every week. Sometimes we'll come home early and don't need her to finish out that block of time but otherwise use pretty much all of the 45 hours. Husband and I work full time and one of my kids is only in half-day preschool. We also try to do date nights a few times a month.

Only in the summer and school breaks. During the school year, I maybe use her for about 20-25...

I use the full 45 hours almost every week.

It's the only way I can make it work. Both my husband and I have full time jobs.

Curious question, why do u ask?

Does everyone use the allotted 45 hrs per week? I have been reading a lot of these posts, and I see that some only use about 30-35 hrs per week. Just curious. Thanks.