Questions and answers about all the basics of the au pair stay

• You'd like to get to know a different culture and explore a foreign country?  
• You want to improve your language skills in your host country and gain important new experience for your personal and professional future? 
• You enjoy taking care of children?

If you have answered these questions with "Yes", then au pairing could be just the thing for you. In the course of an au pair stay, you'll learn the language of your host country and get to know its culture with a unique intensity and depth of experience. At the same time, you'll be living with your host family as a new big sister or brother for the time of your stay, giving you a secure position in the new foreign environment.

Au pairing involves lots of fun and good times, however, it also entails significant responsibilities, especially when it comes to childcare. Therefore, it is very important that you feel ready to assume responsibility and are not afraid of new challenges. Indeed, it is meeting these challenges that many au pairs find to be most enriching part of the experience. You can get a more detailed overview of the au pair experience by reading our Au pair stories and testimonials from au pairs and host families around the world.

Before hosting an au pair, you need to clarify the following questions:

• Do you need childcare?
• Can you afford hosting an au pair?
• Do you have enough space at home?
• Do you want a cultural exchange?

If you answered all these questions with "Yes", having an au pair might be just the right thing for your family. Next step would be creating a profile as a family to start looking for the best match for your family.

Video: should we host an au pair?

According to Jenny, you should only host an au pair if you can answer yes to some simple questions. Watch her own experience with the 3 questions and 3 benefits of hosting an au pair.

It is important that you feel good about the general decision to host an au pair and also about any specific au pair that you select. An au pair stay is based on a special relationship of trust. You will be entrusted with a new family member coming from a different cultural background. And the au pair will be entrusted with the care of your children. In this context, mutual respect, good communication, clear rules and basic affinity are very important for a successful integration of the au pair into your family.

Please keep in mind: Au pairs are neither nannies, nor hired domestic help. In contrast to a regular employment relationship, au pairs live with their host families like fully integrated family members, albeit for a limited period of time.