![]() ![]() While the program issues hundreds of thousands of visas to temporary foreign workers each year, it only has 30 employees - far too few, critics say, to oversee the 18,000 people who travel to America each year to work as au pairs. Because au pairs are classified as cultural exchanges, they fall under the State Department’s J-1 Visa program. The United States’ au pair program was founded in 1986 as a cultural exchange program intended to promote diplomacy and friendly international relations. That’s not how it works.” The American Au Pair System ![]() Other moms asked me if I paid our au pair to do more hours than the 45. “I tried to be clear that they’re here to do a job but also going to be part of our family and enjoy life and I want you to find that balance,” Amanda says. But civil rights advocates say the system can make even well-meaning families unwitting exploiters of vulnerable workers. Many opted to withdraw from the program.Īu pair supporters call the criticism overblown, saying it unfairly tarnishes a beneficial program. With the state’s $11 hourly minimum wage, host families had to pay about $17,000 more a year than before. ![]() Most recently, in December 2019, a federal court ruled that Massachusetts labor laws protect au pairs. A 2017 Politico investigation found that host families refused to buy their au pairs staple foods like bread and that au pairs’ complaints routinely disappeared into “a bureaucratic black hole.” Shortchanged, a 2018 report authored by American University’s International Human Rights Law Clinic and immigration and labor rights groups, found that structural deficiencies in the au pair program foster labor rights abuses. Following a 2014 class action lawsuit from au pairs alleging wage theft, the Washington Post reported on an au pair whose host family forced her to work more than 60 hours a week. In 2013, Bernie Sanders denounced the au pair program as a “scam”. News reports and nonprofit investigations that quote au pairs comparing their treatment to slavery drain a lot of warmth and fuzziness out of the job description. It’s defined as a cultural exchange, not a job, so it seems less like childcare and more like having a cousin on an extended visit from overseas helping out with your kids.īut as with everything that seems too good to be true, issues can arise with au pairs. Families hosting au pairs are encouraged to include them in activities. An au pair in America lives with the family, meaning they’re available in the off-hours when parents need the help most. The cost of an au pair is relatively low: the minimum stipend is just under $200 a week, a bargain compared to the high cost of a full-time nanny or even most major metro area daycares. After 12 months with her, Amanda says she feels like the Milanese woman will be part of their family forever.Īu pairs can seem like an elegant solution to the thorny problem of child care - and often times they are. She watched Amanda’s kids, driving them to and from school, and performed light housekeeping tasks. Her au pair arrived with limited English skills but quickly picked up the language through daily interactions and immersion in an English-speaking culture. An Italian-American who studied abroad in Italy, Amanda selected a woman from Milan as her first au pair in hopes of introducing Italian culture to her children.Īmanda says it was a great decision. New Jersey mom of two Amanda was looking for a child care solution when she settled on hiring an au pair. ![]()
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