An au pair agency website provides information, including profiles, of individuals who would like to work in private homes. This job primarily involved taking care of children and other household chores may be included too depending on the employer's expectations and needs.
The cast of Au Pair Agency - 1994 includes: Alexis Wright
Yes, you can find an Au Pair online at AuPair.com. On the website you choose your country and the country you'd like your Au Pair to be from.
Cultural Care is one of the most popular and largest agencies in Paris. There is also Au Pair Paris which is well known as well. The best agency is a matter of opinion.
There are 12 Au pair agencies authorized by the US State Department. These agencies are closely regulated and monitored and must comply to all rules.
Au Pair services make daily life much easier for a large, busy family. Au Pair services in Spain are listed on this website: http://www.aupairspain.com/
Yes, au pair agency fees and stipend paid to au pairs can be claimed on US tax forms as child care tax credit.
The average cost of au pair services runs to about $300-$400 per week. If you find and hire an au pair on your own you can save yourself the cost of working through an agency and it may end up being less expensive after considering all of the costs involved with getting an au pair through an agency. Doing this, though, exposes you to the risk of not being certain that the au pair that you are hiring has been thoroughly checked out by a respectable company.
I wouldn't advise it and here's why: 1) The agency takes care of au pair recruitment, criminal background check, face-to-face interviews and reference checking in the home countries. I can't even begin to imagine trying to do all that on my own. I couldn't wager a guess at the cost of all that, not to mention the massive amount of time it would take, which as a busy mom, I don't have and I'm sure you don't either. 2) Plus, making all the arrangements for the au pair's visa and immigration documents just makes my head spin. Do you have the expertise to do this and get it right? I sure don't! Then there's the international transportation from her home country to consider. This could cost you thousands, depending on where she's coming from. 3) Also, the agency fee includes health care insurance for the au pair during her year in the states. This alone is probably worth more than $1,000, and you might not be able to provide the level of insurance the agency can because they get it at the group rate, rather than an individual plan. 4) An agency offers you literally hundreds of au pair candidates to choose from. How many do you imagine you will be able to find on your own? And if you do go it alone and it doesn't work out, how are you going to replace your au pair? The agency is there to support you and will help you to find a replacement as quickly as possible with a pool of in-country candidates or a new overseas match. 5) Your local coordinator is one of the biggest assets to going with an agency, in my humble opinion. If you ever have a question, she is there. She provides you and your au pair with information, support, and a whole community of other au pairs to help give yours a social life outside of her day job - and an au pair with a healthy social life means a happy au pair which means a happy host family. I consider the roughly $7k agency fee well worth it considering all that you get and would strongly advise against trying to find an au pair without an agency. I believe there are 12 au pair agencies designated by the US Department of State; the "big 3" are Cultural Care Au Pair, Au Pair in America and Au Pair Care, with roughly 8k, 5k and 4k current host families respectively. Some of the smaller boutique agencies have as few as 100-250 au pairs, which can lead to problems finding a replacement if it doesn't work out with your au pair since there is such a limited pool of candidates. Do your research because the fees and services can vary significantly among agencies. And last but not least, hiring an au pair without an agency in the USA is illegal. Sure, she can be creatively brought over on a student or tourist visa, but she will not have a legal right to work in the USA for you.
Au pair world is really good.
Au Pair is pronounced [oh pair] Source: AuPairCare.dot.com Glossary
If you want to find an au pair or even if you are an au pair yourself, my recommendation is to try findaupair.com. The website it's very easy to use and it will give you right the information that you need in a matter of seconds. You will see that it has 2 categories, one for au pairs and one for families and you can select the country that you need from there and see the information you need.
Au Pair II was created in 2001.