Pay her well for overtime. Nannies and babysitters make much more than au pairs and you aren't even allowed to let her work overtime

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We always pay the standard stipend their first year. Second year we increase it to $250 per week and it is really appreciated by the au pairs. That last year is when they are saving for their post-au pair life or for the trips they'd like to take. We are happy to do it for our second year APs. Some of you are pretty cheap.

Eh, I try not to be judgy. We always get extraordinaire where the stipend is already $250, she also has a dedicated car with all gas covered, and a cell phone with the best plan possible. We have taken our APs all over the world, where they always have separate bedrooms. Giving an AP the best exchange year (or years) possible is not cheap - and for us, having an AP is around 40k - that's not cheap for most young families with children.

$1K a month isn't very generous. You choosing to travel and take them is so you have child care. That's not a vacation. They live with you because its easiest for you and cheapest for you.

Funny. Having an AP is more expensive than daycare or an a nanny share - so not actually cheap care for most people (on like your priviledged self, whoops ).

Having an AP is a privilege especially given the house size you'd need to have one. Day care is often $1200-2500 per child. I stayed home with mine when they were little as I didn't make enough to pay for child care. Problem solved.

What a pity that you have internalized so much misogyny - one hopes you have sons. We have one child - and a career. You made another choice. Sorry you are so disrespectful of women and families. For us an AP is way more expensive than daycare or a nanny share -over 40k a year.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We always pay the standard stipend their first year. Second year we increase it to $250 per week and it is really appreciated by the au pairs. That last year is when they are saving for their post-au pair life or for the trips they'd like to take. We are happy to do it for our second year APs. Some of you are pretty cheap.

Eh, I try not to be judgy. We always get extraordinaire where the stipend is already $250, she also has a dedicated car with all gas covered, and a cell phone with the best plan possible. We have taken our APs all over the world, where they always have separate bedrooms. Giving an AP the best exchange year (or years) possible is not cheap - and for us, having an AP is around 40k - that's not cheap for most young families with children.

$1K a month isn't very generous. You choosing to travel and take them is so you have child care. That's not a vacation. They live with you because its easiest for you and cheapest for you.

Funny. Having an AP is more expensive than daycare or an a nanny share - so not actually cheap care for most people (on like your priviledged self, whoops ).

Having an AP is a privilege especially given the house size you'd need to have one. Day care is often $1200-2500 per child. I stayed home with mine when they were little as I didn't make enough to pay for child care. Problem solved.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We always pay the standard stipend their first year. Second year we increase it to $250 per week and it is really appreciated by the au pairs. That last year is when they are saving for their post-au pair life or for the trips they'd like to take. We are happy to do it for our second year APs. Some of you are pretty cheap.

Eh, I try not to be judgy. We always get extraordinaire where the stipend is already $250, she also has a dedicated car with all gas covered, and a cell phone with the best plan possible. We have taken our APs all over the world, where they always have separate bedrooms. Giving an AP the best exchange year (or years) possible is not cheap - and for us, having an AP is around 40k - that's not cheap for most young families with children.

$1K a month isn't very generous. You choosing to travel and take them is so you have child care. That's not a vacation. They live with you because its easiest for you and cheapest for you.

No, they live with her because they chose to join a wholly voluntary program in which they do childcare in return for room and board in someone’s home. Au pairs are not helpless victims who are forced into the program.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We always pay the standard stipend their first year. Second year we increase it to $250 per week and it is really appreciated by the au pairs. That last year is when they are saving for their post-au pair life or for the trips they'd like to take. We are happy to do it for our second year APs. Some of you are pretty cheap.

Eh, I try not to be judgy. We always get extraordinaire where the stipend is already $250, she also has a dedicated car with all gas covered, and a cell phone with the best plan possible. We have taken our APs all over the world, where they always have separate bedrooms. Giving an AP the best exchange year (or years) possible is not cheap - and for us, having an AP is around 40k - that's not cheap for most young families with children.

$1K a month isn't very generous. You choosing to travel and take them is so you have child care. That's not a vacation. They live with you because its easiest for you and cheapest for you.

Funny. Having an AP is more expensive than daycare or an a nanny share - so not actually cheap care for most people (on like your priviledged self, whoops ).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We always pay the standard stipend their first year. Second year we increase it to $250 per week and it is really appreciated by the au pairs. That last year is when they are saving for their post-au pair life or for the trips they'd like to take. We are happy to do it for our second year APs. Some of you are pretty cheap.

Eh, I try not to be judgy. We always get extraordinaire where the stipend is already $250, she also has a dedicated car with all gas covered, and a cell phone with the best plan possible. We have taken our APs all over the world, where they always have separate bedrooms. Giving an AP the best exchange year (or years) possible is not cheap - and for us, having an AP is around 40k - that's not cheap for most young families with children.

$1K a month isn't very generous. You choosing to travel and take them is so you have child care. That's not a vacation. They live with you because its easiest for you and cheapest for you.

I doubt any agencies are encouraging their APs to negotiate for higher pay. While they all want to comply with the program rules to the letter, why would they go out of their way to create conflict between APs and host families? Don't forget who funds the whole deal - the families. I just interviewed about 10 overseas APs and not one asked about how much we'll pay. We bumped ours to $300 a week when Covid hit, but when we get our next one, we'll probably drop down to the minimum and then gradually increase. Obviously the cost of having an AP is way more than the weekly stipend, even if that's most visible to her.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We always pay the standard stipend their first year. Second year we increase it to $250 per week and it is really appreciated by the au pairs. That last year is when they are saving for their post-au pair life or for the trips they'd like to take. We are happy to do it for our second year APs. Some of you are pretty cheap.

Eh, I try not to be judgy. We always get extraordinaire where the stipend is already $250, she also has a dedicated car with all gas covered, and a cell phone with the best plan possible. We have taken our APs all over the world, where they always have separate bedrooms. Giving an AP the best exchange year (or years) possible is not cheap - and for us, having an AP is around 40k - that's not cheap for most young families with children.

You are extremely judgy. There's nothing wrong with the pp you quoted. You do what's best for your family, but don't look down your nose at other families who cannot afford trips around the world, let alone taking their au pairs along.

Anonymous wrote:We always pay the standard stipend their first year. Second year we increase it to $250 per week and it is really appreciated by the au pairs. That last year is when they are saving for their post-au pair life or for the trips they'd like to take. We are happy to do it for our second year APs. Some of you are pretty cheap.

Eh, I try not to be judgy. We always get extraordinaire where the stipend is already $250, she also has a dedicated car with all gas covered, and a cell phone with the best plan possible. We have taken our APs all over the world, where they always have separate bedrooms. Giving an AP the best exchange year (or years) possible is not cheap - and for us, having an AP is around 40k - that's not cheap for most young families with children.

We always pay the standard stipend their first year. Second year we increase it to $250 per week and it is really appreciated by the au pairs. That last year is when they are saving for their post-au pair life or for the trips they'd like to take. We are happy to do it for our second year APs. Some of you are pretty cheap.

We have always just paid the stipend. She has a car and a phone. No weekends. Two elementary school children. We are nice and decent to her. We have never had a problem finding good au pairs.

Just pay her $20/h when she works extra. You already pay her nothing so why being so cheap? I was an au pair over 15years ago and worked extra for several families making over the weekend double what I made during the week