Au pair cost Post Reply

[Fox 2021]

Anyone able to give me an idea of how much is reasonable to pay Au Pairs per week in London please?
Guidance on some of the au pair websites seems low given London prices.
Thanks

[Fox 2021]

Would be great if anyone with an idea on this could let me know- post or PM. Thanks!

[RunnerBean]

About £100-120 per week depending on no. of hours and no. of nights babysitting (up to 2 nights is standard)

[TheaHutch]

I think it's a lot more now since Brexit, both because the market's tighter but also the government has announced miminum wage applies.

For a 30 hour week for an 18-20 year old, it's £150. But to be competitive, it's more like £180.

Even paying that, good ones are hard to find.

[nappyvalleynannynet]

I would say £100 is far too low RunnerBean, particularly if you expect them to do 2 nights babysitting a week. A night out in London can easily cost that alone.

To attract a reputable au pair who will take the job seriously and be most importantly, reliable. I would recommend no less than £200 as well as £50 a week for food, or ability to add to Ocado or online shop, an Oyster card with a weekly allowance of £20 and a monthly SIM card.

Though its tempting, it will be more costly in the long run to save the pennies. 

[readysteadycook]

Our au pair is £120 for a 30hr week and 2 nights babysitting.  

Only guys you will need to pay more are from Oz /NZ due to the distance they come and being English speakers

[exkiwiaupair]

I was an au pair between 2015-2017 and am from New Zealand. In 2017, I was earning £130 a week for 30 hours. In my opinion, that is just not enough now, 6 years on and with inflation constantly increasing. Looking back, I would also be wary of those who only want native English speakers but are not looking to offer more, given that Kiwis and Aussies aren’t here to learn a language.

[sw-nannyy123]

£120 is far too low
Should be min £200 a week. Paying any less is very very questionable.

[Mumof3SW11]

Slightly off topic, but the amount of people I see advertising for ‘au pairs’ when they mean nannies is not great. Au pairs are meant to do 25-30 hours a week and some babysitting, and not meant to have sole charge of young children. Realistically, this means they are better suited to families with school age kids or a stay at home parents who needs an extra pair of hands. I once heard of a really sad story many years ago where a family had employed an au pair with really minimal English to look after their kids- left her in sole charge of a baby and there was a medical emergency and she was unable to give proper information to 999. Luckily the baby was ok in the end but it could have been a different story. Pay your au pairs properly, and host them for what they’re supposed to do, help with childcare, help a bit around the home, practice their English if applicable, eat thwit main meals with you and your family, free of charge, and don’t treat them like a cheap sole charge nanny!

[TFP]

As others have said, the cost has about doubled post Brexit. Most of the specialist agencies and websites have either exited the market or exist in a much reduced form. So some of the information they’ve got on their sites may not be up to date.

[Mum2Monkey]

£175 to £200 for 20 to 25 hours a week with right to work in UK e.g UK passport, tier 5 visa etc.

Those that accept less usually don't have the right to work. Some people are happy to take that risk, others aren't.

[readysteadycook]

£120 is far too low
Should be min £200 a week. Paying any less is very very questionable.

Sw_nanny123 - By your name, you are a nanny, which has a very different skill set. Your comment is totally wrong.

Remember Au Pairs are unskilled. They also have all their food, bills and accommodation (anyone paid to rent recently £££) paid for. It’s purely pocket money and £120/£130 is alot for a young adult with no outgoings.

Au pairs will see this post and expect people to be paying more, that’s just not going to generally happen and they will be disappointed.

[Needcoffeenow]

It has always been a government scheme and you can check the rules, recommendations and which nationalities are eligible on the .gov website. I agree you need to be aware of NI and employer’s contribution tax rules. A colleague of mine didn’t bother and, at the end of a year, his au pair asked him for a statement of these. Oh dear.

[piper_halliwell]

“…Remember Au Pairs are unskilled. They also have all their food, bills and accommodation (anyone paid to rent recently £££) paid for. It’s purely pocket money and £120/£130 is alot for a young adult with no outgoings….“

Not all au-pairs are unskilled and a lot of the advertising requires “experience” with children, references, DBS and first aid certificate. Last time I checked the latter two things are not cheap and require time to complete.
Also, live-in nannies also have all their experiences covered but receive a paycheque that reflects their experience, knowledge and skill sets.
And “no outgoings”?!? What about phone? Everything is seriously expensive these days… If not £200 then the lowest pay should be £180 pw. I mean I got paid £120 almost 20 years ago…
I’m absolutely sure you know the definition of the word “inflation”.

[NotAnAuPair]

You seem to be in the minority for your thoughts on low ball pay.