What do you think of all these girls who come in the UK to work as Au Pair?

Question

Sadly most of them are money grabbers/lazy and are only interested in using you until they find a good job. Do you really think they care about your kids? (my own experience of having them in my home, never again i tell you!!!)

Answer 1

i got some to and they were all different i found german girl brillant french girl stolen alot from me scotland lazy and spain lazy so i gave up and said i couldnt do it anymore they are unreal
the german one tho was a godsent

Answer 2

There is an essential difference between Au Pairs and Nannies. This definition is from the Home Office

An au pair placement is an arrangement where a single person between 17 and 27 years of age comes to the UK to learn English and:

* lives for up to two years as a member of an English-speaking family, with appropriate opportunities for study, and

* helps in the home for up to five hours a day with at least two full days off a week, in return for a reasonable allowance and their own room.

So it is not right to expect that Au Pairs should be planning to make a career out of being an Au Pair - under this definition Au Pairs cannot be older than 27. There are lots of other "child minders" and "housekeepers" out there, but Au Pairs are a specific bunch of people. And frankly if you're employing someone of 17 who came to the Uk to learn English then there is no point in complaining if they are not up to the latest standards in childcare.

Answer 3

Yes, that is your opinion. Now I going to tell you mine, the other side of the story. I came no to UK, but to Ireland as au-pair. I worked a media of 12 hours per day 6 days a week not only minding the 4 children but cleaning all the house and cooking. I was exhaust each and every night. They pay me very little and the treat was just correct enough. I thought that I was going to find some kind of a second family and I felt more like a slave.
Anyway I know that not all the families are so bad and you should know that not all the au pairs are lazy or indifferent.

Answer 4

Wow, I am both shocked and appalled. I am a nanny in the United States, and though I've never traveled abroad for a job, I would like to think that most nannies and au pairs are of the same mindset...to care for your children to the best of their abilities because THEY LOVE CHILDREN.

It sounds to me as though you've had a terrible experience (or perhaps more than one), but to use the term *most* and to call us money grabbers or lazy? Do you have any idea how hard the average nanny or au pair works? If we were money grabbers, don't you think we'd find an easier way to make a living? I'm unsure of the going salary in the UK, but I can tell you from my experience that most nannies over here aren't making much of anything. We work our butts off for FAMILIES who don't care about their children, because we believe that CHILDREN DESERVE A CHANCE TO BE LOVED AND CHERISHED, even though their parents could give a crap less what's happening in their lives - as long as they're there to sit and look pretty for the family photo. And what do we get as a thank-you in return? NOT A GOSH DARN THING!

I'm sorry if you've had bad experiences, but please, PLEASE do not try and classify us all the same.

I wish you the best of luck with childcare in the future. I pray someone comes along to prove you wrong, so that maybe you'll see how UN-lazy and greedy most of us are.

Answer 5

Well,

In every profession you have those look for a quick entry into the UK and a quick way out. However to paint everyone with the same brush is wrong. I am sure that a more rigourous interview process with references and referees will ensure that you get the right person.

Answer 6

I've seen lots of them picking up kids from schools and they are great with the children, and what happened with yours is only your experience.

I've heard that au pairs can be treated like crap by the people that employ them.

Answer 7

Yes, there's something completely heart warming about somebody who is too lazy to take care of their own children calling people who get paid about 50 quid a week lazy money grabbers.

Methinks this is a case of the pot calling the kettle black.

Answer 8

I like the Idea and wish It had started earlier. I would love to connect with someone who could tell of conditions in my family's root country.
My grand parents* came from Czechoslovakia,on one side and Holland on the other, One two hundred +, the other 70, years ago.
Funny how families can loose touch. ;-)

Answer 9

I used to go out with one and I'm not going there again. They are money grabbers I suppose. Would you care about someone elses kids? Most of them are young and just want to earn money and learn the lingo, then find a British hubby, get married, get everything paid for, and live life in luxury in comparison to what they would have got back in their own countries. Send em back quick before we all loose out....

Answer 10

Geeee, don't know, we get U.K. girls coming to the U.S. to be au pair girls lol