There are many advantages of being an Au Pair, both in the short and long term goals, since participants of a program with these characteristics are living an unforgettable experience in many aspects, but one of the most important benefits is that it will develop your professional skills, and so it is something that will certainly help with your job search in the future. The main advantage is that you will learn a new language quickly, efficiently, and in any case economically advantageous.
Benefits of being an Au Pair
In summary, the main benefits of being an Au Pair are:
- Learning a language and experiencing other customs and cultures different from yours will help you to develop your professional skills and personal growth to become mature and independent.
- It is an economically advantageous way of traveling, with accommodation and food covered by Host Family. You will be part of a local family and you will have their support, in addition to the financial help that includes pocket money you get for childcare.
- Working with children will make you more responsible and organized, and you will live in the moment.
- You will learn to control your finances.
- You will improve your CV by adding this intercultural experience.
On the other hand, while there are many advantages of being an Au Pair, we also have some disadvantages to consider:
- You must adapt to the lifestyle of another family.
- You will need to meet some specific requirements regarding childcare experience.
- Working with children can sometimes be complicated.
- Family should be a priority over trips, parties and meetings.
- Sometimes it is difficult to separate “work” from family life and recognize free time.
Other advantages of being an Au Pair
On the other hand, with this program you will finance your stay yourself, because working as an au pair is a very effective way to learn or improve your language, because you start your life in a new country with everything organized, with the support of your host family, which will give you peace and security because you won’t have to start from scratch looking for accommodation.
During your stay you will have plenty of time to study and prepare your official language exams as it is a great investment for your future professional career, but in any case you will improve your level of conversation due to the fact that you will continue to practice with your host family as well as with friends or on the street.
Undoubtedly, this experience will help you become more open minded and be more prepared to work with different cultures, because as an Au Pair you will immerse yourself in the life of the host country and experience new things, the lifestyle of its people, tradition, mentality and hospitality. It will help you to experience a new culture more deeply, to understand other ways of life.
Another great benefit is to increase self-confidence as a result of living and adapting to another country, with a different culture, facing challenges every day outside of your comfort zone, where you will need to communicate daily with your host family, constantly improving the new language, achieve greater independence, travel , experience new places and people. All these new experiences will bring you maturity, responsibility, and therefore personal growth.
Notwithstanding the above, you will always have all the information you need from our Agency, you will get to know your family in advance, so you will have the opportunity to ask all the necessary questions, you will have 24h support during your stay to get the most out of this Au Pair experience.
Finally, even if it is not the most decisive question to make your decision to live an Au Pair experience abroad, surely you are wondering: How much do au pairs get paid?
As we have seen, the au pair program has great benefits at the intercultural level, so Au Pair receives various benefits in exchange for its work with children (accommodation, food, living with a foreign family as a family member, learning other languages and experiencing new culture, etc.). One of those advantages is the pocket money. This money allows Au Pair to cover its personal expenses in order to enjoy this experience abroad, so this pocket money should be considered as one of the costs of the Host Family before hiring an Au Pair.
Thus, as we pointed out previously, in addition to pocket money, Au Pair has the right to food and lodging in the family home, which allows both parties to enjoy an experience of cultural exchange. In some families Au Pair is also supported with expenses such as mobile phone, transportation, even, sometimes they allow them to use a vehicle in their free time.
The pocket money offered to Au Pair may vary depending on the country of destination and sometimes Host Family and the amount of work, usually in the case of Spain between 70 and 75 euros per week and if Au Pair wants to work extra hours, Host Family must give more free time or extra pocket money. In any case, from our agency you will know the terms from the first moment as they are regulated by the contract between Au Pair and Host Family.
For any additional information regarding this or anything else that may arise, please contact us, we will be happy to assist you.