The Au pair exchange program in Germany offers young women and men the opportunity to gain their first work experience and improve their knowledge of the German language
As Deutsche Welle notes, the Au pair exchange program is a good opportunity to get to know life in another country and improve language skills. But families that invite participants for six months or a year primarily count on their help with childcare and housework.
Last year, 12,000 young women and men worked in Germany through the Au pair program. And although more than half of the families that invited them have high incomes, the number of Germans with low and middle incomes has increased significantly.
Such is the result of a representative survey conducted by the insurance company Dr. Walter. This trend is also confirmed by intermediary agencies that find suitable candidates for German families. "Interest in the program is now also shown by single parents," says Sandrine Link, owner of the agency AuPair-Connect, who organizes the stay of nannies in Germany, in an interview with dpa.
Compared to 2014 (when, by the way, most Au pairs in Germany were from Georgia and Ukraine), the number of participants has grown by a thousand. This was facilitated by the easing of visa regulations with some non-EU countries. The lifestyle of many Germans has also changed.
"Working hours have become flexible. This has created a need for a more flexible childcare model," explains Katharina Frisch in an interview with dpa. She is currently preparing for her specialist medical qualification exam and spends many hours at the hospital. During this time, her son is looked after by 19-year-old Francesca Righetti from Italy. She takes the child to kindergarten, plays with him after kindergarten, and does light housework.
"Without an Au pair, it wouldn't have worked. I couldn't have found another nanny who would adapt to me completely," admits the 30-year-old mother. Thanks to Francesca living in her apartment, she can now occasionally do something spontaneous in the evening.
A governess is a luxury that only a wealthy family with a housekeeper, gardener, and personal driver could afford. This cliché is outdated. For Katharina Frisch, a private nanny has nothing to do with displaying status. Pragmatism prevails, even if not much is left of her salary at the end of the month: under the Au pair program, in addition to paying the nanny pocket money, the family covers her accommodation, food, insurance, and language courses.
Francesca was also guided by practical considerations in her decision to work as a nanny: she plans to improve her German and enroll in a translation program. She found a family in Germany on the website AuPairWorld. The services of such platforms are many times cheaper than intermediary agencies, which charge up to several hundred euros.
However, neither guarantees that the relationship between program participants will run smoothly. In some families, nannies are made to work more than 30 hours a week and perform duties not mentioned in the contract, such as grocery shopping or washing the car. Sometimes, the child's parents are unhappy with the Au pair's behavior. In conflict situations, it is important to talk to each other and, if that doesn't help, seek advice from the exchange organizers.
In Katharina Frisch's family, there were no problems with the Italian nanny. Despite this, after seven months, Francesca will leave the family. "Even with complete mutual understanding, I still want to take care of my child myself. Especially since my work schedule will soon normalize," says Katharina.