Au pairs help share the responsibilities of taking care of your child and completing other household tasks. There is a difference between a nanny and an au pair.
Au pairs are young, foreign people under 30 who live with the family and learn the language of the family. This is good for the child and can also help the parents go on with their daily life.
Let’s take a closer look at ways to get an au pair. We will also look at what the cost will be if you take part in this type of program.
How Much?
If you are considering getting an au pair to help with the responsibilities of taking care of the children, you need to consider some important points.
Register
First, you need to register as a family, and you can then easily get in touch with available au pairs. On the following website, you can easily get registered by following the on-screen instructions.
You can select the type of person and even what nationality they must be. You can also supply a list of responsibilities the au pair needs to take care of while in your service. You should keep in mind that this is quite a sensitive type of job, as the au pair will be part of the family for the duration of their stay.
Accommodation
As the host, you will have to provide a room in your house for the au pair for the duration of the program. This is one of the mandatory costs that are applicable to all host families who are taking part in the au pair program.
This room must meet certain criteria, so you might need to buy certain furniture and other required things to make it livable. You will also have to provide the au pair with full room and board, which includes all the daily meals the family is having.
For further information on the responsibilities of a host family, visit the following website to learn what is expected.
Pocket Money
The amount of pocket money will be determined by the official au pair program of every country, and this differs from country to country. This pocket money can be paid on a weekly basis or on a monthly basis depending on what both parties agree on.
It is a good thing to plan in advance so that you can comply with all the responsibilities for the full duration of the au pair program. You wouldn’t want to just be able to fulfill your responsibility and run into financial difficulties halfway through the program.
If you want to know the current costs that are involved with an au pair, see the following website to keep you up to date. This might work out in the end far better than a nanny, as you will see a lot of great benefits with an au pair.
Other Costs
There are a number of other costs that may not be mandatory, but they will depend on the host if they want to take part. Gifts for the au pair to welcome them in the new country that they will spend the next 12 months in is always a nice idea. This might be anything from 10 to 150 US dollars, and you should add that to the total cost for the program.
The au pair may need a visa, and the host can offer to pay for it to hasten the process and help the au pair. Sometimes, the au pair does not have the money to pay for the visa, so they will need to save the money, and that might take quite some time. This might add up to around 200 US dollars.
Travel costs for the au pair may also be a problem, and many times the host will offer to pay that for the au pair. Depending on the travel distance, it may add up to 2,000 US dollars.
Conclusion
As you can see, the cost over the duration of the au pair program may vary on the travel distance. There are also other hidden costs you need to investigate, such as insurance.
Be sure to do your homework before you take part in an au pair program. Most of the time, it will be worth the effort and cost.