A Nanny or an Au Pair? What Is the Difference?
A question we often get asked is, “What is the difference between a live-in nanny and an au pair?” They are indeed different, and what suits your family really depends on your needs and situation. For a stay-at-home mom who needs an extra pair of hands or for a family that needs a few hours a week whilst parents work, an au pair is perfect. A family that needs more hours of childcare as well as sole independent care of their children will probably find a nanny to be more suitable. Some differences between a nanny and an au pair are listed below.
| Au pairs | Live-in nannies | |
| Overview | An au pair is normally a young foreign person who comes to a host country for a cultural experience, to live with the family on a one-year work permit. They are usually between the ages of 19 and 30. The childcare experience of the au pair is generally limited. | Live-in nannies are experienced in childcare, with related childcare references and join the family as an employee. Nannies vary in age and experience and can either perform solely nanny duties or also take on a nanny/housekeeper role. |
| Costs | The cost of an au pair to a family is between approximately 1800CHF per month, including the au pair’s allowance of approximately 700-800CHF per month, language school, health and accident insurance, taxes, social contributions and pension. | The cost of a live-in nanny to a family is on average between 3500CHF-5000CHF per month (depending on experience), including costs for social contributions, taxes, insurances and pension. |
| Work hours | An au pair works a maximum of 30 hours per week distributed over 6 days in the week, of which only 50% can be unsupervised without a parent. | A live-in nanny can work up to a maximum of 50 hours per week, of which all can be independent, i.e., no parental supervision restrictions apply. |
Other points to consider include that the mother tongue of the au pair has to be different to that of the host family and that of the cantonal language. That is, it won’t be possible to get a German-speaking au pair in Zurich or a French-speaking au pair in a French-speaking family. Also, a family’s permit status can influence their ability to have an au pair, and you would need to enquire with your individual canton as to the regulations there. As an au pair contract is only for 12 months for non-EU candidates (EU au pairs can get extended for a further 12 months; however, many au pairs don’t stay so long as an au pair experience is not normally longer than one year), it is important to consider whether you’d prefer someone for a longer term, If yes, then a live-in nanny may be a better option for your family.
In terms of housekeeping duties, au pairs should only help with light household chores, i.e., emptying the dishwasher, folding laundry, etc., but not heavy housekeeping. A live-in nanny is allowed to help with the heavier cleaning if needed; this is a significant difference that might influence your decision.
Many factors have to be take into consideration when deciding which option is best for your family, so it is best to list what is imperative for you and work from there. Either way, having an extra pair of hands for an international family is a huge relief, since we expats seldom have family support nearby.
By Tanya Jeannet
Tanya Jeannet is a South African/Swiss mum of two little girls, lives in Zurich and is owner of Rockmybaby Childcare & Household Staffing Agency in Switzerland. Website www.rockmybaby.ch. Email tanya@rockmybaby.ch.
Illustration by Bvisual.
Beth (“BVisual”) graduated from university after studying visual communication, specialising in illustration. She’s has been working as a freelance creative and undertaken projects such as the V&A Illustration Awards in London. Currently living near Lausanne, Beth has projects involving portraits and editorial illustrations under her artist’s name BVisual. See http://www.bvisual.eu/.
I was wondering about those differences. Well explained. Thanks!
Nanny take care of all chores related to the kids, educational and fun activities, food, clothes , doctor app. , clean kids areas, etc. Nanny and nanny housekeeping are two different things. No all nannies do housekeeping other than the kids areas. Here is a part I founded not no be totally clear or correct most of the time.
Thanks.
Hi Carla – thanks for your comment – yes correct that is a role of a nanny – what I wanted to say was that you can have a nanny / housekeeper who does both whereas aupairs have a limited range of tasks they can perform in housekeeping. All the best, Tanya