Au Pair

The term, au pair, is a French phrase which means “equal to”. Generally, an au pair is a person hired by a family as additional help in house work that includes childcare, some cleaning, laundry and other home-based chores.  Typically, families with little children need extra hands to look after the children.  Different countries have different au pair programs and they usually leaned on hiring young individuals to live with a family in exchange for room, board and allowance.  Au pair programs are also seen aa cultural exchange programs since an au pair is usually a person of different nationality who took the au pair job opportunity to be able to travel. 

Being an au pair is often associated with domestic work and nanny duties.  An au pair is slightly different in terms of work load. While being a nanny is about caring after the children, au pair is being with the children coupled with light housework. Light housework for au pair may include loading ad folding laundry, cooking breakfast, vacuuming, to name a few. As long as these tasks are stipulated in the au pair’s contract with the family, an au pair can perform them for the family. Intensive house cleaning and gardening are not usually part of the job of an au pair. 

Having an au pair can improve how a household is run.  Having extra pairs of eyes and hands can keep the family in control. Finding an au pair that can fulfill important tasks for the family’s need is easier when there is a platform where families and au pairs meet. Thebestaupair.com is one of those sites that offer such services. Finding the right au pair for the family is faster and more reliable.