Live-in au-pair - how much? Post Reply

[annamike]

Hi there.. need some advice
we have a live-in au pair who has been with us for 3 months now. She works mo-fri 7-10 and 15-19 and 1/2 nights babysitting. 2 kids aged 4 and 6.
We pay her £130 per week with usual 4 weeks holiday paid. She has some experience with kids as babysitter. she is 28 now. all food and lodging included
So far all good, she does her job properly, responsible enough. nothing major to complain about.
This morning she started to kind of rant about her weekly pay.
She asked me if fair to ask 10-12£ babysitting outside our house (I personally always paid 8 for night babysitting) and then kidn of complained that a friend who lives outside London gets more money and family pays for school and travelling to Italy...
Any advice? I though my pay was fair but she made me feel a bit unease with her comments.

[Amme_2005]

I dont have an au pair but we are thinking of getting one and i had a ballpark of £100 per week in my head. Most of the stuff i have read suggested £85-100 pw so i would suggest you are being very generous. But will watch with interest

[MGMidget]

I agree, that usual recommended au pair pay is typically around £100 per week or less. She is working 35 hours a week though which is at the high end and she is 28 so a bit older than the average au pair. However, at £130 per week I would say she is still doing well for the area. From what you say she doesn't have much experience so probably isn't nanny material.

Her expectation of £10-£12 ph for babysitting is ambitious. A more experienced, well qualified nanny might be able to get that but it seems high for an au pair when there are babysitting agencies out there with more experienced/qualified people available at lower rates than that.

Personally I wouldn't place much importance on what her 'friend' gets outside of London. Firstly, you don't know what experience her 'friend' has and secondly, anywhere outside of London is far less desirable for au pairs. Hence, that family may feel they need to offer extras to stop their au pair trying to move to London (as many do this).

I too would feel uneasy with her comments and would probably be watching her behaviour and motivation with interest.

[kidzibuzi]

Hi,
I pay my au pair less £60/week but also pay her monthly Oyster card, it seems low but I cannot give more even if I would like from time to time as I had fantastic au pairs so far. However, she does less hours than yours and one evening baby sitting per month only or less. She is also only 19 years old. I think your au pair should become a nanny if she is an au pair to earn money. Being an au pair is usually a one year experience in a family abroad and the weekly money is not wages but pocket money to allow her to go out or to pay some personnal expenses such as English lessons or other. My au pair has also met other mums and does baby sitting sometimes, it could be an idea if your pair wants to earn more money while she is an au pair,

Thanks

[NYE31]

£10 - £12 per hour for babysitting? Likeminders charge £8 per hour.

I would pay £10 to an experiencen nanny & I think £100 a week for an au pair is generous, any more all the more so.

I too would be keeping an eye on her & disregarding what she claims her "friend" is saying.

[annamike]

thanks for all replies so far.. make me feel better

[nanny_kitty]

If it makes you feel any better I don't make £12 an hour babysitting and I am an experienced nanny who is Montessori trained.

I've been an au pair too, and your au pair has a great deal with your family. You don't need to change anything.

[coolmum]

We pay our au pair £115pw and her monthly travel card.

When she first arrived we paid £80pw but she's proved to be very good so we've increased it slowly.

We've had bad au pairs and want to keep this one.

It's tough as all the au pairs in the area talk and so compare 'pocket money' and benefits.

[mumofsoontobetwo]

I don't have an Au-Pair but have looked into getting one, and had read £80 for 25 hours per week. So your pay would be generous compared to that. And I agree that she probably won't get babysitting work unless she charges £8 ph, given her experience. I've paid £8-10, but would expect someone very professional with lots of experience, references, etc if I was paying £10. And I've never heard of anyone paying £12.
As other posters have said - most au-pairs are younger and are here for the experience, it's not about making money or she should try being a nanny, but it doesn't sound like she has the experience….

[fashionistamummy]

We went through an agency when we hired our au pair and had them advise on everything. We have an au pair plus which is 30 hours a week plus 2 nights babysitting. They advised this was £80-£90 a week. If we needed the au pair to work extra hours it was £3.50 an hour. We pay a bit more and we also pay our au pairs mobile phone top up (which was optional). The main issue with au pairs being paid what they are paid (apart from the obvious costs of food and board in London is covered) is that if they are paid much more than this they will need to start paying tax.

I do know that to get an au pair outside of London is a bit harder as less demand so I know families having to offer a bit more like a gym membership or transport costs to get applicants. Before I had a live in au pair I had another au pair work extra hours for me and a friend as the family she worked for had school age children and she was free between school drop offs and pick ups, she was £7 an hour but she always gave priority to the family she lived with and helped them over school holidays.

Did you hire your au pair through an agency? Maybe you should call them for some advice on how to handle this. We were lucky with our au pair, every time I pay her more for extra hours we have a fight on our hands to get her to accept the extra money.

[Chucka]

I had not thought of having an au pair prior to reading this post. Sounds like the ideal option for me. I do have a spare room, welcoming disposition and good location. Would not be able to pay much. Any recommendations for agencies and details of their rates, or info on how to find a good au pair independently would be v much appreciated...?

[fashionistamummy]

We used the agency A2Z au pairs as someone on our street recommended them. I initially thought the agency fees were a bit hefty but they have really worked hard to make sure i found the right person and all the checks references were done (including criminal record checks), had great advice and prep with the au pair which has helped with an easy transition for everyone (particularly my husband who was a bit more out of his depth with someone else living in the house), and have done a lot of follow up since the au pair started to make sure all going well and to see if they can help.

[mumtoafew]

on the back of this, we have an au pair and pay well within the amounts everyone is mentioned, not £130! and our au pair does 25 hours per week. We are new to au pairs, however, and are on holiday next week. Obviously I normally keep a very well stocked fridge and she will eat things I have prepared previously eg spaghetti bolognese and chilli etc...When I go shopping I also ask if there is anything in particular she would like. When we're away not sure what to do - do I give her some extra cash to buy food? Or just get a few basics in? what does everyone tend to do? Advice appreciated thank you!

[nannyc]

130£ for an au pair is a lot. But she is 28, and legally the maximum age you can be an au pair is 27, so you need to be careful in case you are not paying tax for her money. Au pair is for share care, 25 hours per week, and a maximum of 2 evenings babysitting. But as I said you can only be au pair until the age 27. If she's 28 her status is mother help and unfortunately you need to pay tax for her income. Just keep an eye open on case this will get ugly and turn into some thing bad.

[MGMidget]

Actually, my understanding is that the age is irrelevant. There is no 'au pair' category in the UK any more and whether or not tax is payable is dependant on the amount of income. At £130 per week she would need to registered as an employee as it is over and above the National Insurance lower earnings limit. However, at that level of pay there may not be any deductions to make so it would simply be a case of registering and filing a pay record in 'real time' using HMRC's software. The thresholds where deductions for NI and tax need to be made are available on HMRC's website. Most people pay below the National Insurance Lower Earnings limit as it avoids all the 'red tape'.