Au Pair Link Au Pair & Family make front page news in Taranaki
Thursday, 16 July 2009
Until au pair Carrina Roth arrived in Eltham she thought her hometown of Aschaffenburg in Germany was a small village.
Her "village", near Frankfurt in Bavaria, has a population of 68,000, slightly more than the city of New Plymouth and about 30 times bigger than the town of Eltham.
For the next six months she will be living on a farm just outside that town, looking after two young boys whose parents both work.
The 20-year-old is one of a growing number of young women coming to New Zealand to work as au pairs live-in child minders as part of their gap year between school and university.
"It takes the pressure off when I get home," said Karen Smylie, Flynn and Lachlan O'Sullivan's mother.
"I can just play with the kids and don't have to worry about cooking tea or tidying up the house ... The children see a lot more of their father when they stay at home during the day too," she said.
The Taranaki Regional Council human resources adviser is a convert to the services of the au pair, having first employed one a year ago when she returned to work after the birth of her second son. "Actually this was the only option," she admits. "There was a two-year waiting list at the nearest daycare centre."
Many families are also finding it is a good financial option. With most au pairs in it for the overseas experience, the wages, and therefore their cost, are relatively low.
Weekly rates for a live-in au pair top out at $200 regardless of the number of children under their care.
Weekly daycare rates for babies up to 3 years old are around $160 for 30 to 35 hours.
For children older than that, the first 20 hours are free but each hour after that costs about $5. It quickly adds up.
Cecilia Robinson, managing director of Auckland-based company Au Pair Link Ltd, said interest in attaining the services of an au pair was growing quickly in Taranaki, with rural families dominating inquiries.
She said an au pair was not only cost effective compared with daycare but they saved parents the hassle of dropping off and picking up their children from a daycare facility each day.
"Most people have a spare room and a 20 or 21-year-old girl doesn't cost too much extra to have at your home. And they don't go home at 5pm so there is that flexibility that lets parents get out and have a bit of a social life."