In Consideration of Au Pairs
Thaty Oliveira
We don’t talk much about au pairs in our nanny community and while our membership doesn’t reflect much of this in-home childcare group, it still falls under INA’s umbrella and I would love to invite our community to have more conversations around it.
I have heard many times that au pairs are merely inter-exchange students coming to the US just to learn the culture and should never be compared to nannies because they don’t do the same work as nannies. They’re not entrusted the full responsibility that nannies are, caring and nurturing the whole development of the children under their care. Or so we think.
See, I was an au pair before I was a nanny. And I can tell you first hand, a lot, almost 100% in fact, of the au pairs I’ve known through the years will agree that au pairs do a lot of the same work nannies do – for a fraction of the pay.
Au pairs are young adults between 18-26 years of age who participate in a program that is sold as cultural exchanges without much emphasis on the childcare aspect of it, yet that childcare can be up to 45 hours per week. Exchange students receive a “stipend” to perform childcare in exchange for room and board. As of 2019, au pairs receive $195.75 per week and can work up to 45 hours, all without any rights of overtime pay. That, my friends, means that a lot of au pairs make $4.35/hour *if* their employers (aka host families), “follow the rules” and respect the maximum amount of time.
As a former au pair who is very much engaged in advocacy in this matter, I want to share my own experience. I had a wonderful host family who did not take advantage of me and as a result, I fell in love with childcare. However, even back then, in 2003, I realized that I was “the lucky one” – my wonderful experience wasn’t the norm. While I had an amazing experience, I had numerous au pairs who would end up in my host families house to eat because they had been deprived of food; or they would come to cry to my host mom about the abuse they were going through with their families. They relied on *MY* host mom, instead of the program’s local coordinators, who were supposed to be a liaison between au pairs and their host families, should they have any issues. The problem is, the issues were not being addressed, or if they were, it was just a conversation and things would get worse. Fast forward to 2019, I realized I really did hit the jackpot! For every “good” story you hear, you hear about 10 horror ones. S.T.I.L.L. H.A.P.P.E.N.I.N.G.
Last year, a new report was published with more insight into what the program really looks like in reality. This report brings to the eyes of the public what many would call modern-day slavery looks like. You can read the full report HERE.
As much as I love the idea of the program, there are many systematic issues with it that need to be addressed. As a community, we can also start by joining the conversation and become aware of these issues. We can continue spreading the word that childcare IS work – REAL work. Failing to recognize that, even if just for this program, keeps the narrative of the undervalued and unrecognizable work we all do.
In Massachusetts, au pairs are protected under our states’ Domestic Workers Law, despite multiple failed attempts from one of the sponsor agencies and affiliate of the au pair program to remove au pairs from the DWL claiming this is not a working program.
As lights continue to shine on this federal program and its shortcomings, au pairs have collectively come together to share their experiences. The most recent is a class action lawsuit which called over 100.000 au pairs to file claims for a proposed settlement worth 65.6 million, benefiting those who worked between 2009 and 2018. The date for the Fairness Hearing is June 5, 2019.
Tatiane (Thaty) Dias de Oliveira – (Boston, MA) Thaty is a Career Nanny and Childcare Specialist in the Boston area, working with children and families for nearly 20 years. Thaty holds a Master’s of Education in ESL/Bilingual Education, a Master’s of Management in Leadership and Coaching and a Bachelor’s degree is in Multidisciplinary Studies (majoring in Early Childhood Education). In addition, Thaty is also a certified Happiest Baby on the Block Educator, Newborn Care Specialist, Parent/Family/Professional/Life coach, to name just a few. An industry leader and advocate, Thaty is involved in numerous projects, providing support, networking, and professional development for the nannies in the greater Boston area. She is the founder and facilitator of the Massachusetts Nanny Breakfast Club and the National Domestic Radio, the co-author of the Professional Nanny Series Class on Care Academy and has helped to organize – in addition to present – Boston’s National Nanny Training Day since 2013. Thaty has been a member of the INA since 2011 and joined the Board in 2017.