In this busy world, it’s important to find a child-care solution that meets the needs and flexibility of your family and also offers the best support and learning opportunities for your children.
There are many factors to take into consideration when looking at your options. Given the benefits of hosting an au pair, it’s not surprising the number of New Zealand families who have chosen in-home care as their preferred solution.
Here are some of the benefits of hosting an au pair.
Affordability
The cost of hosting an au pair is not as much as you might think. Many host families find that it’s a more cost-effective form of childcare than the pay-per-child-per-hour model, especially those with more than one child. You can get full time care and education for your children from only $300 per week for up to four children. With Au Pair Link you’ll also have access to 20 Hours ECE government subsidy for children aged 3-5 years as well as WINZ and OSCAR childcare subsidies.
Flexibility
The benefit of having an au pair living as part of your family means flexibility. You won’t be tied to a start and finish time like you are at a preschool ECE, and you also won’t need to go searching for a reliable babysitter as your au pair will be right there!
If your children are at different ages and stages, an au pair can help you meet all their needs. If some experience outside the home in a playcentre or early learning centre is desirable, your au pair is available to help with the transport requirements, or with Au Pair Link, they can attend organised playgroups and outings.
Learning opportunities
It can feel overwhelming ensuring your children’s needs are met, along with finding someone who supports your choice of learning style. An au pair will work with you to help keep your children’s care and education on track. If you hire an au pair through an agency such as Au Pair Link, your family will be allocated your own qualified ECE teacher who will meet with your au pair and children every month to ensure their learning is on track and everything is going well. They will supply age appropriate learning kits and resources, and also organise weekly playgroups, outings and meet-ups for socialisation and learning. Your on-call teacher is also there 24/7 if you need any advice or additional support.
Au Pair Link whisk all of their au pairs away on a three day orientation before starting with you. This is where they learn child first aid (through St John), theoretical driving lessons, they learn how to cope with culture shock, along with childhood education and behaviour management strategies. They also organise plenty of weekend au pair trips away too!
Hosting an au pair is covered under New Zealand law so any licenced service provider must meet minimum standards of care and education. If you source an au pair through a licenced provider, your carer will develop a learning programme especially for your child that takes into account their age, development and interests. They will receive on-going training and support from their agency, and often will also be able to access further resources.
Au Pair Link help with settling your au pair into the New Zealand way of life, provide you with support and mediation. They can help place another au pair with you should your first choice not work out (which can happen, but is rare!)
Consistency
It’s true that kids thrive on routine and consistency and having an au pair in your home can help ensure routines are well established and adhered to. With an au pair, the number of caregivers is reduced, and your children do not have to constantly adjust to having different adults caring for them.
Helping hands
Having an au pair in the house is having another adult, and an extra pair of hands, in the house. If you are parenting alone a lot, having company can be supportive, reassuring and fun. In addition to keeping the kids entertained, busy and learning, they can also help sort the washing mountain, meet the neverending feeding requirements, and keep the toys and play areas tidy.
If at least some of your children are school age, an au pair is a great help in getting the kids ready and out the door. They can even do the drop off, pick ups, and help with after school activities!
Health considerations
While a child’s immune system develops as they are exposed to viruses and germs, the onslaught of different illnesses they’re exposed to in a preschool environment can mean children lurching from one illness to the next. For working parents this can be a huge pressure and some find that they prefer their children to be cared for in their own home. Less sickness, and less time off work for you!
Having an au pair means if your child is sick, there is a familiar caregiver right there at home with them.
New horizons
Au pairs in New Zealand are usually young people from overseas. Having someone from a different culture in your home is a fantastic way for your children to experience that culture, including the language and cuisine, and in doing so enrich their lives.
What would you like best about having an au pair?
See more:
Written by Robyn for Au Pair Link
Robyn creates content on Kidspot NZ. Her hobbies include buying cleaning products and wondering why things don’t then clean themselves, eating cheese scones with her friends, and taking her kids to appointments.
Favourite motto to live by: “This too will pass.”
An au pair sounds like a fantastic way for a family to incorporate a different culture into their home while getting the help they need for their family. It is also a two way street I think – while getting paid for doing the work, the au pair also has the chance to participate in a “foreign to them’ culture and family way, learning new skills and growing as a person.
I would love an Au Pair – reading this has made it even more of a realistic option. One huge advantage I can see is if you kids are forever catching bugs from daycare / kindy as we are experiencing this at the moment – as the children miss out if they have to keep staying home due to catching all the different bugs whereas if you had an au pair they would probably be less likely to get sick and they would still be able to help look after the children.
It is great to read more about Au Pairs and I am surprised to see how much actually goes into the role! I always thought it was just travelling students from overseas so it is nice that they are actually quite a viable option that would work for a range of family needs.
I always thoight Au Pairs were for the rich and famous types i never realised how affordable the potentially are! Having an Aupair kills so many birds with one stone and espeically trying to find someone to look after 3 kids can be diffucult and then when holidays happen it becomes even worse.
I love that you dont need to worry about strict hours like a kibdy has or after school care and makes it even more attractive that its in the comfort of your own home so the kids more often will be more settled and happy.
I am amazed that we can use ECE hours for Au Pair, I didn’t even know about that. The Au Pair Link looks good with all the training they offer Au Pairs, it does give you peace of mind to have her or him in your home. And you get to have someone focus on your own kid’s needs or interests. As an immigrant in this country, we don’t have much family around and this would be a great help.
But on the other end, it’s still someone staying at your home for hours at a time with your child/ren, there’s that factor of not really knowing someone. It’s a tough call. But again, the option is there to consider.
My sister had an Au Pair from Germany while she was studying, she was lovely and will always be a part of our family now, I would definitely consider an Au Pair if the need arose and would highly recommend others to get one. Kathryn was a great asset to the household, and was a fantastic with my niece and nephew.
I always thought about getting an au pair when my kids were little. This article is great as it explains every little detail like the au pair gets help from a qualified ece teacher to help them out each month to ensure they are on the right track with teaching the children and helping them out. My sister an law had one for her 4 children while she was still at home to help out. She found all her au pairs great I think all hers were from Germany and she made life long friendships and they come back to (NZ) to visit or they have caught up overseas. She enjoyed having an extra pair of hands to help in every way with the kids, the washing, kids meals, bathing, babysitting as well. I would have loved to have had one as well but at the time things just didn’t work out.
I like the idea of always having someone available to take care of the kids when things come up or we need some couple time… i never considered this as an option before , firstly cos i didnt know there was a NZ based organization and secondly, having a stranger stay in my home and look after my kids kinda scares me… not that im knocking it…it may work for some…and because we dont have any family in Nz to help this would make sense..but in this day and age…im not too sure…
I think I would like best about au pair that they are trained for 3days beforehand before entering my home and that they are there for any time like if you were on call they are able to just step in and look after the kids and very flexible. This would be super handy for anyone with children as it’s so hard to juggle children and work and have someone reliable to look after their children that they know has qualifications to keep you’re child safe and learning still while you’re away at work.
I have a friend who regularly has an au pair, and she loves it. She has had about 3 so far, and her kids have learnt all sorts of things that they wouldn’t have necessarily gotten in a daycare scenario – like a new language. She has kept up with each of them after they have moved on too, so it’s more like a flatmate/friendship. At least from what I can see. Obviously you do need to click with them for the arrangement to work for you as well.
If I had my babies closer together I definitely would have considered it, as it does work out reasonly priced if the alternative is to have more than one in a daycare centre instead. But even after the kids are at school it can be really good.
I would have considered an Au Pair with my first son, I was a single parent and worked full time and it was pretty hard juggling work, childcare, kindy etc with him. I think an Au Pair is a great idea though as they child get’s to stay in their environment, more comfortable for them etc. I would love not having to take them out of the house every morning and pick them up again in the afternoon/evening, they could eat the food you have at home and have all of their own toys and things to play with 🙂 Has anyone actually had an Au Pair and can say what it was like?? Benefits etc? 🙂