How an Au Pair can solve your childcare problems.

Many parents find hosting an au pair an inexpensive, flexible way to provide care for their children in their own homes, either instead of or as well as nurseries, after school and holiday clubs or other forms of childcare. So what are au pairs, what do they do, and what would be the pros and cons of an au pair placement for you?

An au pair placement is an arrangement where a single person aged between 17 and 27 comes to the United Kingdom and lives for up to two years (and often much shorter periods) as a member of an English-speaking family; the au pair helps in the home for up to five hours a day (or seven hours for an au pair plus) with at least two full days off a week, in return for the opportunity to improve their English and get to know British culture, with their own room and a reasonable allowance - the government recommended allowance is £55 per week for 25 hours work. Some au pairs will work longer hours by prior arrangement.

Some parents have an au pair to help around the house and with the children when one or both parents are present, but most have one to take sole charge of the children while they are out at work. Typical duties include looking after pre-school children at home, getting older children ready for school or nursery and taking them there, collecting children from school, keeping the children's things tidy, and often preparing their meals, bathing them and putting them to bed. Light housework such as vacuuming, washing up and laundry are often included, and some au pairs will also iron or cook, but childcare is often the au pair's main duty, and normally it is their preferred one!

Although au pairs provide very cost effective childcare, it is important to understand that au pairs are not simply 'cheap labour' - the au pair will be in
your home to improve their English and learn the ways of your country as well as helping you about the house and with your children. Families need to help the au pair to settle in, to get to know the area and find language courses or other activities to help them make friends. It's also important to remember that in general au pairs do not hold childcare qualifications, so parents should give them full instructions before leaving them
in sole charge of the children.

One of the advantages of au pairs is that they may be more flexible than professional childcare providers; they may be happy to work extra hours in school holidays or on particularly busy days, and you can even take them with you to help with the children if you go away. It can also be an enriching experience for the family and many parents value the opportunity for their children to start learning a foreign language themselves when they are young.

So where can au pairs come from? Technically an au pair must be a national of one of the following countries: Andorra, Faroe Islands, Monaco, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Greenland, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania Croatia, Latvia, San Marino, Cyprus, Lithuania, Slovak Republic, Czech Republic, Macedonia, Slovenia, Estonia, Malta and Turkey. Although European Economic Area nationals are not included in the au pair scheme, they are in fact free to come to  the United Kingdom to take au pair placements.

Under the au pair scheme au pairs should not be married, should have no dependants and should not plan to stay in the United Kingdom for more than two years as an au pair. Nationals of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Republic of Croatia, Macedonia, Romania, the Slovak Republic and Turkey must get a visa from their British Embassy or Consulate before they travel to the United Kingdom.

Members of commonwealth countries such as Australia, New Zealand or Canada often act as au pairs in the UK under the working holidaymaker scheme and are greatly sought after. The working holidaymaker scheme is an arrangement whereby a person aged between 17 and 30 (inclusive) can come to the United Kingdom for an extended holiday for up to two years, with the intention of taking paid work here as a part
of his or her working holiday.

If you are interested in arranging for an au pair to stay with you can visit an Aupair Plus at http://www.aupair-plus.com   who will search their database of over 4000 au pairs and contact the closest matches to you need with information about your family.