Au pair

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Rob_H

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We're hoping to move back to Somerset which means we'll have to employ an au pair as my wife will have to work full time initially. Has anyone any experience with these, costs, arrangements etc?
 
My next door neighbour had an au pair, I was virtually frothing at the mouth with the prospect of a nubile young, leggy Swedish blond appearing next door, imagine my horror when Brun Hilda the east german shot putter turned up :shock: :shock: not like the movies.
 
My next door neighbour got an au pair, he told me she was an east german shot putter. Imagine my delight when a nubile young, leggy Swedish blond turned up, I was virtually frothing at the mouth. :shock: :shock: just like the movies.

Maybe the papers got mixed up?
 
one of Mrs KUsers best friends is a nanny, not quite an au pair but close.
She is one of the most drop dead gorgeous things I have ever seen, could quite easily have been a model..........
8)
:wink:

steve
 
BMac":37rlt8je said:
My next door neighbour got an au pair, he told me she was an east german shot putter. Imagine my delight when a nubile young, leggy Swedish blond turned up, I was virtually frothing at the mouth. :shock: :shock: just like the movies.

Maybe the papers got mixed up?

=D> =D> =D>

:lol: :lol:

Brad
 
Doctor":3ckgqrsu said:
My next door neighbour had an au pair, I was virtually frothing at the mouth with the prospect of a nubile young, leggy Swedish blond appearing next door, imagine my horror when Brun Hilda the east german shot putter turned up :shock: :shock: not like the movies.

BMac":3ckgqrsu said:
My next door neighbour got an au pair, he told me she was an east german shot putter. Imagine my delight when a nubile young, leggy Swedish blond turned up, I was virtually frothing at the mouth. :shock: :shock: just like the movies.

Maybe the papers got mixed up?

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Quality ! ha ha ha ha .. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
Should I really have expected any genuine help on this one :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
Doctor":1kmiawx4 said:
My next door neighbour had an au pair, I was virtually frothing at the mouth with the prospect of a nubile young, leggy Swedish blond appearing next door, imagine my horror when Brun Hilda the east german shot putter turned up :shock: :shock: not like the movies.

BMac":1kmiawx4 said:
My next door neighbour got an au pair, he told me she was an east german shot putter. Imagine my delight when a nubile young, leggy Swedish blond turned up, I was virtually frothing at the mouth. :shock: :shock: just like the movies.

Maybe the papers got mixed up?

Arrrh, that explains a few things.

Priceless post :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
Should I really have expected any genuine help on this one

Not a cat in Hell's chance! :lol:
My wife was a nanny when I met her, she earned nearly as much as me, plus board and lodging with two furnished rooms and a bathroom to herself and her own car as well.

Roy.
 
Digit":2i8l7x7j said:
Should I really have expected any genuine help on this one

Not a cat in Hell's chance! :lol:
My wife was a nanny when I met her, she earned nearly as much as me, plus board and lodging with two furnished rooms and a bathroom to herself and her own car as well.

Roy.

And she gave up all of that for you?? What a Guy!!
 
Not sure of the price of a Nanny / Au Pair, but would it be comparable to childcare costs? It curently costs us approx £4 per hour per child for childcare costs. Thus for a 40 hour week on a 4 week month that equates to £640 a month per child. Not sure you will get a full time person to work for that - thats less than £10k for a year and less than the minimum wage, which I presume applies for a nanny / au pair? Even if you get a student on a gap year or similar I think you are looking at alot of money to actually employ someone full time.

Steve.
 
Good nannies come with a pedigree from an agency and a hierarchy exists, my sister-in-law was an agency nanny and worked her way up in their estimation so that for a time she was nanny to 'Air Miles Andy' and his missus.
On top of the normal perks that her rank within the nanny's world would obtain for her she travelled where ever the family went with the children.

Roy.
 
There is a huge difference between a Nanny and an Au pair. Au pairs usually are on very basic money - not much more than pocket money really and you are responsible for providing board and lodging for them. They typically can only work 25 hours per week and if you get a very young one (16) it can feel like having another child rather than child help. There are very good websites where you can exchange emails and contact information with prospective Au pairs before committing but the majority do come from Eastern Europe. Some very good friends have had about 5 different au pairs, no disastrous one's but some were easier than others. The Hungarian girl was a stickler for time keeping and only worked the agreed number of hours and no more and ate like a horse. Another was a 16 year old Blond Swedish girl (settle down at the back there!) but was like a child really although very pleasant but could not help very much. One Slovakian girl was a hero, she could drive and had a boyfriend in the UK and would work loads of extra hours, was really friendly etc. Like in real life people are different.

Nannys are self employed girls and it is your responsibility to check they are qualified and CRB checked etc. There salaries are usually quoted NET at a daily rate of somewhere between 60 and 100 pounds per day depending on experience and location. Normally live out these days but a few live in jobs are mainly in London. Access to a car is expected or alternatively petrol money is paid. As they are self employed you are responsible for their PAYE tax and unless you are an expert it is worth paying a company like Nanny Tax (200 per year) to administer the pay slips etc. In short a full time Nanny will cost you their Net pay 15.6K to 26K per year plus their Tax and NI plus employers NI contributions, Nanny Tax Fees, Car use/Petrol money and it is an unwritten rule that you remember their birthdays and can bring them on holiday with you (paid of course). They get 4 paid weeks of holiday a year, sick leave (at least the government pays the SSP) and they can get pregnant as well! Which means you need cover for 6 months or so (this happened to us twice).

In short, nannies are a fantastic way to ensure kids get top quality care (if you get a good nanny) and worry free cover but they are extremely expensive, you would pay a minimum of 20K out of your NET salary and it could be as high as 35K per year. You need to be earning significantly above those levels to make it worthwhile. At least the cost stays the same no matter how many children you have but nursery costs are a fair bit lower.

The most cost effective childcare method is a registered childminder. They are local authority registered and regularly checked people (usually mums with older children) but will typically require you to bring your kids to them and pick them up. Some will take kids to after school activities but it will depend on their circumstances. They normally charge an hourly rate per child, somewhere around 5-9 pounds per child per hour.

Hope this helps, and feel free to ask any questions. We have had (part time) nannys for over 10 years and they work very well for us with my wife working 3 days a week. Many of our local friend use child minders and if we could find one that would work in our situation we would go that route. However as we can't the Nanny is the most flexible solution.
 
My ex-wife and I employed a full time nanny for several years when our three daughters were young. It was the most cost-effective and flexible childcare solution for us and the expense was mitigated by putting the nanny's wages through my ex's company. Officially she was a shop assistant! I would imagine that a lot of people employing nannies own their own businesses and that this is very common practice.

It worked very well and must have been a positive experience for the kids as my eldest, now 16, is training in childcare with a view to becoming a nanny herself in a year or so. It is what she has always wanted to do.

People sometimes question whether it is a worthwhile career option for her, assuming that the earning potential is very low; however Cutting 42's post makes clear what a lucrative job it can be for the right person.

Cheers
Brad
 
In the budget announced yesterday there is provision for a granny benefit payment.

40 years ago my wife would not let me consider an au pair :)
 
Thanks - we've been looking at a few agency websites for au pairs. We have a self-contained guest annex at our current place which would have been ideal which ever route we go down. We'll make sure we buy similar when we move back to Somerset with a similar amount of land as we have now so I can build a new large workshop!! I think it will be an au pair rather than a nanny as Mrs H will only work a couple of days a week and doesn't want to spend too much time away from Charlotte. I had a nanny when we lived in Africa when I was a child - fond memories of her, although she was rather strict.
 

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