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SALT LAKE CITY — Significant changes may be coming to the U.S. au pair program. But critics say it may price families out of participating in a cultural exchange that has helped working families manage child care needs.
Au pairs are foreign nationals ages 18-26 who come to the United States on a visa that lets them live with a host family for up to two years. They provide child care in exchange for a modest wage, in addition to room and board, travel expenses and education opportunities.
According to the Wall Street Journal, "It is intended as a relatively affordable and flexible form of child care for Americans, as well as an opportunity for ambitious young people abroad to come practice their English and immerse themselves in American culture. About 20,000 au pairs come to the U.S. each year."
Politico reported that the weekly stipend is at least $195.75 for up to 45 hours of work — an amount based on the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, minus 40% of that (about $130 a week) for room and board.
Among other changes, the minimum amount families would pay an au pair would increase, while the hours worked without overtime pay would decrease.
"The State Department's rule proposes a new stipend based on a complex equation that accounts for higher state and local minimum wages but keeps the rent and food deduction the same," per Politico. "In D.C., families could be paying a $589.46 stipend for a 40-hour week in addition to the other required expenses — coming out to roughly as much as a full-time nanny."
According to State Department data, more than 21,000 au pairs and U.S. families participated in the program in 2022, including 177 in Utah.
NBC12.com reported that many families, especially those with multiple children, find the au pair program less expensive than hiring a nanny or paying for day care. But according to the Alliance for International Exchange, close to 70% of the families taking part in the program would not be able to afford it, since they would have to cover the other costs and the increase in wages. And instead of up to 45 hours a week as an au pair, they would need to pay time-and-a-half to an au pair after 40 hours — and get the extra hours preapproved.
A cultural exchange
The State Department in its proposed rulemaking, published in the Federal Register, said the program "develops young foreign ambassadors who return to their home countries more aware of American values, culture and leadership and provides reciprocal cultural and educational benefits to the American families hosting an au pair visitor, especially the young children in the au pair's care.
State Department officials wrote that the goal of proposed changes is to "clarify and modernize" the program by, among other things, "restructuring the child care and educational components, replacing the EduCare program with the part-time option, enhancing au pair and host family orientation requirements, formalizing standard operating procedures for rematching au pair with new host families and proposing new requirements to strengthen au pair protections."
Program critics and pushback
Critics say it simply raises the cost beyond what many families can afford.
Politico notes that the program has been roundly criticized for years, with reports that au pairs are overworked and sometimes don't receive the wages they have been promised.
"There have also been concerns about the program's oversight," per Politico, which notes the State Department "outsources" program management to "au pair agencies, including some for-profit companies. The new rule would also seek to create more formalized — and typical — working conditions for au pairs, who are sometimes asked to work odd hours to accommodate parents' overnight or unpredictable work schedules."
Some of the au pairs agencies are asking families to call their state senators and express opposition to the proposed changes.
NBC12 quoted part of an email sent to host families from AuPairCare urging them to sign onto a bipartisan letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Tom Tillis, R-N.C, are circulating about the proposed au pair regulations. "The letter requests that the Department of State rescind the current proposed regulations and propose a new outline for public comment. We seek your support in asking your senators to sign on."
As of Tuesday afternoon, nearly 3,000 comments on the proposal had been posted. The comment period ends Dec. 29.
