The concept of au pairs as an affordable childcare choice is increasing because of the depressed economy!
Numbers don't lie - most agencies are experiencing a recent uptick from families who are interested in making the switch to au pairs from both daycare facilities and private nannies.
Why? Affordability! Costs seem to be driving the recent trend. Au pairs are, overall, more affordable compared to daycare and nannnies. Daycare fees have risen to keep pace with inflation and the costs of running a business - salary increases, high rents, heating, etc., keep daycare costs high. With an au pair, there is no "overhead" costs and they care for multiple children - daycare centers will charge a family for each child and charge for "overtime" if you are running late from work, etc.
Private nannnies are expensive, let's face it! Professional nannies are worth the money they command, but most working families cannot afford them. Working and middle class families, who can no longer pay for good daycare because of rising costs, cannot hire a nanny at $500 - $700 a week. Nannies can be live-in, but most are not and they will also charge you for staying late, and they base their weekly salary on the number of children you have.
Au Pair in America conducted a survey that showed prior to joining Au Pair in America, "37 percent of host families had used a nanny and 25 percent had used daycare. These numbers support a trend that families are turning to the most cost effective child care option: au pairs."
In addition to Affordability, Safety is a major concern for parents.
William Gertz, CEO and President of the American Institute For Foreign Study (AIFS) said "The average cost of the au pair program is $309 per week whether you have one or four children. Families tell us that this form of childcare - a fixed weekly cost - is better than childcare facilities, which often have a spotty record."
We agree with Mr. Gertz and we have reported here before on the state of daycare in America. In researching both daycare and au pair care online, we find 10-20 disturbing stories of abuse, neglect and deaths that occur daily in these facilities, yet we find no similar stories concerning au pairs.
These daycare statistics combined with au pair care's affordability is good news for the au pair agencies which have seen an increase is interest from new host parents:
Cultural Care, the largest of the American au pair agencies, experienced an increase of over 49% in traffic last month and Au Pair Care is seeing a dramatic upswing in vistors, with over 245% increase in visitors! (Demember, 2010, http://siteanalytics.compete.com/culturalcare.com+aupaircare.com/).
In addition to saving dollars allocated for childcare, families enjoy the icing on the cake: cultural exchange introduces new and wordly experience and knowledge into their lives.
“Having an au pair gives our three children the most consistent care at the best price,” said Suzy Cooke, a host mother from Washington, D.C. Cooke and her family have been with Au Pair in America since 2005, and their current au pair, Katherine, is from Germany.
“We have all benefited from the cultural exchange in ways we didn't originally anticipate. Experiencing how people from other countries interact with us and our friends and relatives, makes us more welcoming, sharing, patient, tolerant and loving as a family. Having au pairs care for our children has been a great experience for all of us.”
Read more about au pairs here:
Are Au Pairs a Safe Childcare Choice?
To read more about au pair costs, visit our Au Pair Agency Discounts page!
No comments:
Post a Comment