5 Benefits of Hiring an Au Pair

Opening your home to a foreign girl or boy is not that easy and leaving your children in their care requires a gigantic leap of faith. Hundreds of families take that leap because the program works well for both sides. What are the advantages of hosting an Au Pair at your home?

1. Affordable costs

Au Pair is cost effective way of having a child looked after. The costs of hiring them can be divided into two parts: the pocket money and food and accommodation costs. "Before my current Au Pair came out to Australia from Italy, I used a local nanny from down the road for a few weeks" - says Kim, a host mum from Australia. - "She had no more experience than the overseas ones but she was Australian. For the same price I had her for 4 hours per day compared with 10-12 hours per day. So if you need someone everyday, even if you add up food and other expenses, you have a cost of about $500 per week compared with $1,000 per week."

2. Exposure to different cultures and languages

One of the greatest benefits of hiring an Au Pair is that your child will get daily exposure to a different culture. A young person from foreign country can bring so much to your family with their own language, customs, traditions, cuisine and talents! If you ask your them to work on language learning with your child, it will help to make the experience positive and your child will still learn a second language.

3. Scheduling flexibility

Although there is generally a limit to the number of days and hours each week, the Au Pair is available as needed. You can divide the hours in a way that works best for both of you. For instance, if you have school-age children, she can be available to get the children ready in the morning and take them to music lessons or watch them in the evening.

4. In home care

By hosting an Au Pair you can be safe in the knowledge that your children are being looked after by a trusted person in a familiar environment - your family home. She is more like a family member, who will take on board house rules and personal childcare preferences. Having someone living with you is great because you know you will have coverage for the kids from someone who knows the kids, knows the house and our lifestyle, etc. "There's a great sense of security there" - confirms Craig, experienced host dad.

5.Young and full of energy

Au Pairs are usually between the ages of 18 to 30 and as such, are very energetic. This suits the needs of families with young children, whom elderly nannies or grandparents find difficult to keep up with. As the most of the girls are young, so it is also easier to teach them to do things your way, rather than have "Mrs Doughtfire" take over!

If you would like to hire an Au Pair, register at: http://aupairgarden.com/
It's free website connecting Au Pairs and Families without using an agency. Create your profile in 5 minutes and contact directly thousand of Au Pairs from all over the world!

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