Considering to host an au pair is a big step, we get that! You might worry about your privacy, and what it will be like to have an au pair in your house. 80% of the parents hosting an au pair for the first time come back for another. Read some host stories below to help get a better understanding of what its like to host an au pair.
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Why choose for au pairs
With love, Jasmijn and Lyla founders of Nina.care
Meet Sien and her au pair, discover what the au pair can help with, how Sien experienced being a first time host family, and learn why they chose to host another au pair next year from… Australia!
Host mom Willemijn tells us about why she chose to host an au pair! She has already hosted 4 au pairs, from all over the world. So how does an au pair help her family in day-to-day life? What are the advantages/disadvantages? And how do you choose which au pair is the right match for your family? Watch the video for all her tips!
Hiost
Marieke is doctor, mother of 4 kids and 4 pets. All in all, a busy life! They began their au pair journey when they just had 2 kids, but had some serious doubts in the beginning because of privacy issues. Now she laughs at the thought that they were even worried about such a small thing. “I wonder, why we were so worried about privacy? Now we can say that it’s really not a problem at all. The advantages are so much bigger than the disadvantages. We now have so much more quality time with our kids.” Watch the whole video to hear more about her experience!
For my family hosting an au pair has been a lifesaver, being an entrepreneur with a busy working husband it was perfect: we combined a nice cultural exchange for the kids and the au pair with the luxury of flexible care and consistency at home.
We have had au pairs in our house for six years now and we can’t live without them! No more stress in the morning when you both go to the office or one is on a business trip or finishing that work project. It really is just an extra pair of hands in our busy family life with three young children. You can enjoy the children more. If someone else cleans up the kitchen and gets rid of the laundry, you feel like reading a book in the evening after a busy day at work.
–Anne-Karien von Fumetti
Regulatory Policy @ MUFG and Founder of Sloane Circle
For us, our au pair is everything we hoped for: she is a happy, funny, sweet and fun addition to our family, she provides exactly the relief we need at the edges of the school days. The children like her, they have stability, and we have quality time with them back, because she takes care of a lot of the ‘operational arrangements’. We have found a very nice mode (we even have Friday afternoon drinks together) and are very happy with our new temporary ‘family composition’
I felt guilty at first having an au pair as a mum, But, now that I had my second au pair, I realized that actually, I can be a better mum as I can give my kids more quality time when I’m with them. Now I’m less tired and instead of always cleaning, cooking, or doing the laundry, I can now do some light house chores and still be energetic for my kids and play with them. Also at some point, the au pair takes part of the family so it doesn’t feel like you are leaving your kids with whoever.
We had never had an au pair before and were feeling quite unsure about the process, but Nina.care helped us through the whole experience by matching us with the best au pair for us, guiding us through the documents, and supporting us throughout the year when any questions arose. They helped us to find an au pair that aligned with our cultural preferences which helped the integration of her into our family to be really smooth. While I was concerned about losing some privacy, the benefits of having an au pair far outweighed any cons.
We are now on our second au pair with Nina.care and are thrilled with the program as a solution to helping our family! The kids have created a nice bond with both of our au pairs that allows us to leave them in good hands while we finish our work days. They bike home from school with her and she helps with their afternoon activities. Our children are not so little anymore so they don’t need constant looking after, but having someone around in case they do need support in some way is invaluable to us.
We were desperate for an extra pair of hands around the house as the boys would finish school a few hours earlier than we would finish work every day! We couldn’t find a reliable afterschool program we trusted so we began to look into au pairing as an option. What a surprise! We loved it and found it to be the right fit for us as there was a consistent person for the boys to help them with their homework and take them to their afterschool activities.
I had the pleasure of studying abroad in Australia in my youth and wanted to engrain an international mindset in my children from a young age. With daycares being inaccessible due to the price and long wait, I thought an au pair was the perfect solution for our family. Having an au pair in the house has been an absolute life changer for us! She quickly fell into our family and we developed a nice routine. I was a bit concerned about privacy initially, but she wants her alone time just as much as we do so it ended up being a great balance for us.
My family and I were looking for a solution to childcare as we live outside of Belfast and couldn’t find any consistent and reliable options. Nina.care matched us with a lovely Canadian girl who has become a part of our family in just a few short months time. She helps us tremendously throughout the week and we also enjoy time together with occasional family dinners or hikes on the weekend. We love the cultural exchange having an au pair in our house brings to our kids and are happy to have someone we trust watching after them.
We were really struggling to find a solution for our family as all of the daycares in the area had months-long waiting lists. My husband and I were trying to juggle full-time work with full-time childcare, and it was becoming near impossible. Bringing an au pair into our home couldn’t have been a better solution! We now have consistent, reliable help from someone that our children love and adore. We trust her entirely to keep our children safe and occupied, and it allows us to have the work-life balance we have been desperately needing. Our free time can now go to doing fun things with our children on the evenings and weekends rather than doing chores around the house!
Of course! If you don’t like the profiles we suggest to you don’t worry, we will refund you or select new candidates for you.
We have a very thorough screening, that consists of an interview, document check, we require references, medical check up, pregnancy test, motivation letter and perform a check on the English level.
Just remember, an au pair is a young adventurous girl, she will not want to spend all her free time with your family;) We hear back that privacy is the nr. Concern but that in real life it takes a little bit of getting used to each other and then you are in each others bubble and things are completely fine and relaxed. Also watch our videos with some real host feedback.
We screen our au pairs carefully and have never had au pairs stealing anything. In the case something breaks there is a liability insurance that we advice your au pair to take. Actually, most liability insurances automatically cover your kids and au pair from the moment your au pair is registered at your address.
Florine host mum answer: I had the same. But, now that I had my second au pair, I realized that actually I can be a better mum as I can give my kids more quality time when I’m with them. Now I’m less tired and instead of always cleaning, cooking or doing the laundry, I can now do some light house chores and still be energetic for my kids and play with them. Also at some point the au pair takes part of the family so it doesn’t feel like you are leaving your kids with whoever.
We notice that au pairs communicate easily with the kids, with gestures and the kids learn English quite fast. We also provide dutch as well as English language courses to help your au pair get up and running with the basics.
You agree together with your au pair how you want to live and work together! Some au pairs like more privacy and some prefer to become really part of the family. We will find candidates that have the same expectations as you. It is nice to share meals together as well as its important to have a good cultural exchange.
Your au pair can join you on vacation ( she can officially not work then) or you can leave your au pair in the house. Make sure to leave the fridge full or give some money for groceries.
I can happen of course that your au pair gets sick, she cannot help with the kids on those days so in this case its wise to book a nanny or arrange a back up solution. Your au pair is however properly insured via Nina.care and the basic health insurance so you don’t need to worry about that.
A rematch happens in about 5% of all matches for various reasons, mostly because of personality misfit and unclear expectations upfront. We will try to mediate to make it work, and if that does not sufficiently help we can arrange a “ rematch”. We help your au pair to find a nice new house and a new au pair for your family. We advice to take out the Nina.care insurance to prevent extra costs when this happens.
There should be a window that can open and a door, and it should be a nice place to be in! The bathroom can be shared with the family and does not need to be separate.
An au pair is between 18-25 years old and comes from another country to partake in a rewarding cultural exchange program. They come and live at your house and help you take care of your kids and the household.
First and foremost, you should see it as a cultural exchange and as a wonderful experience for your kids. Secondly, it’s a flexible and affordable way of daycare. The best of both worlds!
Yes! During the cultural exchange, the au pair is required to have basic health insurance, but as an au pair you also automatically receive a health care allowance for this.
The host family can also take out the basic au pair insurance with which your family is insured against a possible rematch and illness in the first months.
Thanks to our rigorous screening and experience in matching the perfect person to a family, it almost never happens that a host family and an au pair don’t click. When it does happen, we call it a “rematch”.
If it really doesn’t work, we will look for a new family for the au pair and a new au pair for the family. We advise you to take out our au pair insurance so that you, as a host family, do not pay the full service costs again for finding a new au pair that suits your family.
In ruil voor kost en inwoning en zakgeld, helpt de au pair bij licht huishoudelijk werk, kan ze de kinderen naar school brengen en naar bed brengen, maakt ze (lichte) maaltijden voor de kinderen, kan ze de kinderen helpen met hun huiswerk en leert ze het hele gezin meer over haar cultuur.
Geen zorgen, de au pair hecht ook veel waarde aan haar vrije tijd en zit echt niet elke avond bij de familie op de bank!
Lees hier alles over het hosten van een au pair in Nederland en de eisen aan het gastgezin.
The Dutch government allows an au pair to stay in the Netherlands for a maximum of one year. If you then want to invite another au pair to your family, we are happy to help you in your search for a sweet new au pair for the following year.
An au pair must come from abroad and have a residence permit . In addition, accommodation of the au pair in the home of the host family is also mandatory.
You pay after we’ve found you your perfect au pair.
Our au pairs come from all over the world! The thing they have in common is that they LOVE kids and speak English so that communication isn’t going to be an issue!
Yes, the au pair can do light housework. They can help with vacuuming, emptying the dishwasher, putting in a wash and folding laundry – but no cleaning of the bathroom of cleaning windows for example.
As part of the au pair program, au pairs are entitled to free room and board. This means that they get all meals and housing from the host family. They must live in the same house as their host family and should have a private room with a door, window, bed, wardrobe, and desk as well as access to a bathroom. Their food and living quarters are included if they become sick or are on holiday time.
We love to send profiles of matching candidates to you and can assist with making your au pair contract, the extensive screening of your au pair, visa application, and support during the au pair year.
