The term Au pair is given to those people who are foreign nationals who work as domestic help to a family while living with their host family. This term has been derived from the French word "au pair" meaning on a par or equal to, which shows that they are to be treated as a member of their host family while they stay with the family and they should not be treated as a domestic servant but as an equal member of the family. Generally, girls or young women work as au pairs sharing some of the responsibilities of baby and child care and housework with the members of the host family. It offers a good opportunity to these girls to learn about the culture of their host family's country.
To be eligible for such an assignment of working as au pair, one should be female, unmarried and aged between17 to 30. In USA, this age limit is from 18 to 26.Generally, these au pairs stay for at most two years in an alien country as a member of a local family. They would help with house work of the host family for fixed time each day with weekly offs, which is generally two days. They would receive reasonable emoluments in return of their work and would stay in a separate room.
As already stated,An are to be treated as a member of the family and not as a servant of the family. They are also not required to wear any uniform while they are working. They would be generally sharing food with family most of time. They would also participate in the social activities of the family like picnics and trips. But, the host family would like to enjoy some private time especially in the evenings, when she may go off to her room to watch television or go out with friends. It is offers a great opportunity for a person to get familiar with the culture of the host country. Many countries have statutorily limited number hours an au pair would work per week. Nature of responsibilities might include taking children to and from school, babysitting, cooking, cleaning, ironing etc.
There are some extra conditions to be followed by an au pair for some of the countries.
In United Kingdom, au pair should belong to any of the countries of European Union and some other specific countries like Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia and Turkey. They should be unmarried without any dependant and could work for two years maximum. They must leave the country immediately after the completion of the period. There are Au pair agencies in UK who help them to get the assignment.
In USA, au pairs could work for one to two years. They would provide maximum 45 hours of child care per week. These au pairs would require completing six semester hours of academic study each year. In USA, there are specific agencies who could help in administering the Au Pair program.