Au Pairs: A Growing Trend
More and more families in NQ are hosting au pairs in their homes and theyare proving to be an invaluable help for parents, but what exactly are they?
Au Pairs are a European concept whereby young people (usually late teens to mid-twenties) live with a host family in a foreign country so they can immerse themselves in a different culture and learn the language. Typically they get paid a small allowance for helping out with household duties including looking after children.
At a time when many families no longer live near extended family and where one parent works in mining or defence jobs, having an extra body in the house makes popping down to the shop for some milk a whole lot easier. It also makes childcare arrangements much less of a headache for shift workers or parents who do casual work. And, the icing on the cake is that having an aupair saves an awful lot of money in childcare fees if you have multiple children under school age.
International au pairs live in your home as part of your family and as such they share some of the household duties including looking after the kids, doing school drop-offs and pickups and help with light housekeeping tasks. This is done in exchange for accommodation, meals and a small amount of pocket money, which varies but is usually around $150 to $230 per week.
Local Cairns mum Natasha Brown has had au pairs in her family home for a number of years with varying degrees of success, all sourced by online agencies. She has hosted au pairs from Denmark, Germany, Austria, Canada and USA. Natasha says that her au pairs have formed wonderful relationships with her children and become part of the family during their stay.
“My husband is frequently away and I also need to travel sometimes with my own work, so knowing that someone is at home with the kids who I trust and who they know almost as a member of the family, has brought such peace of mind. It is also helpful when a child is ill and it coincides with an important work appointment” she says.
Natasha is now using her experience to help other local families find compatible au pairs by creating a guide which is available at her website www.hireanaupair.com. Natasha says “asking the right questions, giving accurate, concise and detailed information and giving early feedback is crucial since it helps to establish expectations”.Her tips are a useful first step for anyone interested in engaging an au pair, or finding out if hosting one might be a suitable option to meet their needs. It includes information on the pros and cons, factors to consider and how to source an au pair.
For more info go to www.hireanaupair.com
