In the US, more families than ever are hiring au pairs. This is likely due to the fact that families with two parents working are now more common than ever before, according to recent census information. This is good news to young women (and men) who want to get a taste of life in the United States.
This may also be good for Americans wanting to go overseas as au pairs. The current worldwide economic climate will likely cause more families to have to work longer hours or take on additional jobs to get by financially. While this is not something to rejoice in, it does expand the demand for childcare – which is where au pairs come in. Hiring an au pair is often a better and more affordable option for families looking for full-time childcare, especially families with more than one or two children.
So while the rest of the world moans and groans about recession, you can take this opportunity to go abroad for a year, experiencing a new country and culture. Another thought – au pair “pocket money” is not exactly big bucks, so you will hardly notice the economic crunch. And ignorance is bliss, right?
Yes, we hope that 2009 will be a strong year for the au pair agency. Because of the weak economy, I believe that parents will sign up in stronger numbers than ever before – hosting an au pair costs less compared to other childcare options in the states: daycare and nannies.
Daycare and nanny organizations (even private nannies) have become very expensive and costs continue to skyrocket in America.
Go to my site: http://www.aupairclearinghouse.com to read my article Au Pairs on the Rise under current news. There is also a link to the Wall Streeet Journal where I got the data for this news piece.
Happy New Year to all of you and if and when you do sign up to become an au pair, please visit me on my site and let me know what agency you choose and how they are treating you. We rate and compare agencies by using customers’ feedback.
Best,
Edina Stone
this is a good year with plenty of opportunities for au pairs as we are facing economical crisis globally and therefore families search for unexpensive childcare, is a good moment
the problem is that we find that australian au pairs and nannies charge much more than au pairs from overseas, this makes childcare more expensive for families, so they prefer to get overseas au pairs than australian nannies