AU Pair Help Please

Winty

Hi

My wife and I are living in London and are due our first child in October.

Whats the cost of an Au Pair, In a ideal world we would love a girl over from Ireland to stay with us so my wife can go back to work.

How much would it cost if we had somebody Mon-Fri 7am to 6pm, she would have evenings and weekend off and free room and board.

caprilicious

Hi Winty, Congrats to you both
I've no idea of Au Pair costs, but I think if you try www.rollercoaster.ie you might be able to get costs there.
There is a section on that website with info on childcare options/classified ads etc

cch

Why does the au pair have to be from Ireland?
And as you're in the UK you'd be subject to their employment etc laws so you'd be better off checking UK-specific sites.

BlackForestJule

Please do think about what you are asking for! You are asking for someone to work for you for free for 55 hours a week. NO Au-Pair agency and no au-pair in their right mind would accept these conditions! You'd either get someone who's no other option in life (and I'd consider it deeply unfair exploiting a girl in such a condition!) or a real au-pair who'd be so unhappy after a few weeks that'd she'd change families or head back home in a jiffy! Not much use to you then either!
Free room and board for an au-pair are a given anyway. And so are a couple of other things:

http://www.europa-pages.com/au_pair/terms.html

Realistically, you have to look for proper childcare. An au-pair covers the time before and after (eg if the creche doesn't open before 8 or closes earlier than you can pick your child up), taking to and picking up from creche etc. It's not a full-time childcare option!

Sorry if I sound a bit annoyed, but I was a very unhappy au-pair myself many years ago. I did a lot more work than I was supposed to and a lot longer hours.In addition, I didn't get to know any other au-pairs as I was out in the sticks and didn't go to language classes. I accepted these conditions partly because I didn't really know my rights, partly because I liked the family and they depended on me and partly because I didn't want to give up. Thankfully my parents made it clear to me that sticking up for myself is not the same as giving up and I eventually left much earlier than planned.

Winty

BlackForestJule wrote: »

You are asking for someone to work for you for free for 55 hours a week.

Who said for free, I have a budget of about £1400 per month after tax and the room and board included.
I am not looking for a slave !!!

Au-pair Nanny what ever, I am a first time father so sorry I dont know the terms to call everyone

BlackForestJule

Hi Winty,
I do apologise if I misread your post. To me it sounded like you were offering a room and board in return for 55 hours solid work. Maybe I overreacted due to my own negative experiences.
But anyhoo, what you are looking for is not an au-pair then. As you saw, their working hours are very restricted, they want/need you to be their family as that's part of the experience and as most of them are away from home for the first time.
You are either looking for a nanny or maybe a childminder who minds kids in their own house, which might be cheaper as you can share the costs with another family or two.
I can't tell you what the prices are in London (paying my sister in law in Dublin 40 €/day. not sure whether we are/she is doing really well out of it or really badly as I have no comparison)
Just found these sites with guiding prices which might help.
Wish you all the best in your search anyway. I know what a nightmare childcare can be!

http://www.buttonsnannyagency.com/clients.asp
http://www.bbc.co.uk/parenting/childcare/available_nannies.shtml#typical_costs

And apologies again for the misunderstanding!

Winty

Thanks BlackForestJule thats a great help