About Au Pair's (Different from Nanny)

         I have been asked about what it means to be an Au Pair. Well au pair means "on a par" or "equal to", showing that the relationship is intended to be one of equals: the au pair is intended to become a member of the family, though a temporary one, rather than a traditional domestic worker.

     The au pair service is not very well known within the United States because it is generally a European job. The United States looks at an au pair job as the equivalent of a babysitter or nanny, but in Europe it is not uncommon for a family to have an au pair to help with domestic responsibilities. The biggest difference between au pairs and nannies is: au pairs are usually foreigners who live with the family and share daily responsibility for childcare, and nannies usually are residents of the same country in which they work. The concept for au pairs is they work part-time and study part-time giving them the opportunity to have a cultural exchange and gain care-giving experience. A nanny is often someone who is performing childcare as a career. Depending on the location, au pairs often learn a new language and expand on communication skills.

    The notion of an au pair started in Europe after World War II where an abundance of domestic servants looked after upper-class children. Changes to economics made it more available to middle-class families as an increase in middle class girls rose who needed to earn their own living. It was a middle class position, so an au pair was supposed to be treated like a member of the family rather than a servant. Now au pairs come from all around the world, but must first pass basic application criteria. An au pair receives pay and a private room, and the Council of Europe recommends that au pairs be issued standard contracts and are considered employees of the family.

     Some of the duties of an au pair are: waking the children, taking/collecting children to/from school, helping with school homework, playing with the children, taking the children on outings to parks, playgroups and other activities, preparing light meals for children, doing the children’s laundry and ironing their clothes, making the children’s beds, cleaning the children’s bathroom, keeping the kitchen tidy and clean, including sweeping and mopping the floors, and light shopping.

     Cecile, my host mom, likes to keep the kids involved with as much of the cleaning as I can. Most days I am helping them, but they are required to learn as much as they can from cleaning up after themselves.

     I hope that was interesting and helpful. Please ask if you have a question.