AROUND HOME : The <i> Au Pair</i> Option

IT’S THE BIGGEST PROBLEM working parents face: finding competent child care. American-born nannies and care-givers are scarce; families who hire undocumented foreign workers to care for their children are breaking the law and flirting (however remotely) with prosecution.

There is now a legal alternative. To give more foreign students a chance to sample American life, the United States Information Agency (USIA) issues special one-year J-1 visas to young women (and some men) from 13 western European countries to live with American families, care for children and carry on a modest education program. Candidates must be 18 to 25 years old, have a secondary school education, fluency in English and experience in child care.

American families pay a sponsor about $3,500 for air fare, training and health insurance. They pay their au pair a stipend of $100 per week, give him or her a room, two weeks of paid vacation and subsidize up to $300 in tuition.

An au pair is not “hired help”--he or she is to be included as a family member in meals and family activities. Au pairs may work up to 45 hours per week. Although not responsible for heavy cleaning, they are expected to perform light housekeeping chores related to the children and, like a family member, contribute to the neatness of the common areas of the home.

Five venerable student exchange programs have been approved as sponsors by the USIA and now find themselves in the nanny business. All operate under the same USIA ground rules, and each can bring in up to 2,840 au pairs per year. They screen and interview candidates, then match them with prospective host families. Although families do not interview candidates directly, there is an opportunity for correspondence and a chance for all parties to get to know one another before the year begins.

All programs employ counselors to ease the adjustment and to make sure that the agreed-upon working arrangement is being honored by all concerned. In case of a non-fit between au pair and family, the au pair will be placed in another home and the host family will receive a replacement. However, the original match-up succeeds about 85% of the time, odds which are at least as good as in most new employer-employee relationships.

The five au pair sponsors and their parent organizations are:

AuPairCare, Academic Year in the USA, (800) 288-7786.

AuPair Homestay USA, Experiment in International Living, (202) 628-7134.

EurAuPair, ASSE International Student Exchange, (800) 333-3894.

E. F. AuPair, Education Foundation for Foreign Study (800) 333-6056.

AuPair in America, American Institute of Foreign Studies, (800) 727-2437.

DR