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Forms Of Child-Care
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Au Pair
An au pair is a foreigner whose first language is not English. Au pairs originate from one of the
following countries outside the European Union:
| Andorra |
Macedonia |
Faroe Islands |
Turkey |
| Bosnia-Herzegovina |
Malta |
Slovenia |
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| Croatia |
Monaco |
Greenland |
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| Cyprus |
San Marino |
Switzerland |
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| Czech Republic |
Slovakia |
Hungary |
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Au pairs are unqualified, work part-time, and traditionally offer their service within the family
in exchange for board and the opportunity to learn English. Nowadays, an au pair receives additional
payment in accordance with the number of hours she works, but au pairs remain a popular and cost
effective form of home help and child-care on a part-time basis.
Au Pair Plus
The Home Office recommends no more than thirty working hours per week for an au pair at a rate of five
hours per day, six days a week. However, some au pairs are happy to work longer hours (up to forty hours
per week) provided that they are reimbursed for their additional time. This arrangement would suit
families requiring more extensive part-time help.
Summer Au Pairs
Should you require home help and child-care specifically during the summer months, many au pairs wish to
work with a Britain family during the summer holiday as it coincides with their own summer break.
Mother's Helps
A Mother's Help can be either British or foreign. Although cheaper to employ than a trained Nanny,
a mother's help has no child-care qualifications. A mother's help is often required to assist with the
housework an other menial tasks within the home. Parents do not usually leave their children in the sole
charge of a mother's help and the general view is that the mother is usually around to be helped, hence
te term 'mother's help'. A mother's help has more of a supportive role within the family.
Nannies
A Nanny is employed to look after your children within your own home. Nannies are usually female and are eighteen
years of age and above. Although anyone can describe themselves as a Nanny, a qualified nanny will have
professional training and expertise. It is these qualifications that distinguish a professional nanny from
an au pair or mother's help.
Some Nannies prefer to take sole charge of the children they care for. This means that the
hours they spend caring for children are unsupervised by a parent. Working mothers often require their nanny
to take sole charge of their children while they are at the office, and it is usually recommended that a nanny
should have at least two years experience if they are to be entrusted with the sole care of a child.
There are no legal restrictions on the number of hours per week that a nanny can work. Often, nannies will refer to
themselves using more specific prefixes (listed below) as a means of identifying to their potential employer the
preferred scope of their role:
Full Time Live-in Nannies will usually work up to a fifty-five hour week (This usually equates to five,
eleven-hour days). In addition, they can also be expected to baby-sit for a further two evenings during
the week.
A live-in Nanny will also live with your family and will therefore need her own living space.
Full Time Live-out Nannies will work on a daily basis, usually completing a forty-five
to fifty hour week (equating to five, nine or ten hour days). Baby-sitting in the evenings requires extra
pay and may be more difficult to arrange because the nanny lives away from the family home at her own residence.
Part-time Nannies
If you have older children, or work part-time yourself, you may decide that it is only necessary to employ a
part-time nanny to cover your child-care needs. This can be a cost-effective solution as you pay a part-time
nanny according to the child-care you receive. However, it can be more problematic to find a nanny whose
requirements suit those of your own. Additional support for baby-sitting and other unforeseen cover may be
necessary, and it should be agreed as to whether you would be happy for your nanny to work part-time for
another family when she is not working for you (see Nanny Share).
Temporary Nanny
A good short-term solution to your child-care needs, although a temporary Nanny is more expensive than
Nannies hired on a more permanent contract. A temporary Nanny can fill in for a sick long-term nanny,
accompany a family on holiday, or provide cover during a crisis.
Nanny Share
Nanny Share is when a single Nanny divides her work time between more than one family. Usually two families
agree to share a single Nanny with the Nanny spending half her week with one family and half with the other,
or caring for both families's children under one roof. If the Nanny shares her time between more than two families
simultaneously, she must register with the local authority. This is a fantastic solution for a part-time working mother,
or a mother who no longer needs full-time support.
Childminders
A childminder provides care for your child outside of the family home. Childminders must be registered with social services*
and conform to certain criteria which are monitored when social services carry out random annual checks. Any reputable
childminder should be a member of the NCMA (National Childminding Association). Your local authority will have further
information as well as a list of registered childminders in your area.
Childminders will usually care simultaneously for a number of children who will often be from different families. Under
the 1989 Children's Act, childminders are allowed to care for no more than three children under five years of age at any
one time, with only one child of the three being under a year old. If the children are aged between five and seven years,
the childminder may look after a total of six children at any one time, but only a maximum of three of those children can be
be below the age of five. These figures include the childminders own children. A childminder is usually less expensive than
employing a nanny or using a nursery.
*(This applies if the child being cared for is under eight years of age and the childminder is
working for more than two hours a day)
Maternity Nurse
Maternity Nurses are not necessarily specifically qualified to care for newborns. They should however be experienced
nannies, well practised in the care of newborn babies. The role of a Maternity Nurse is to offer twenty-four hour support
in the early days of motherhood. (Having worked for a week, the Maternity Nurse is entitled to 24 hours off duty per week
thereafter) They usually live in the home and will assist with all elements of caring for a new baby, including seeing to the baby
throughout the night. A Maternity Nurse is only responsible for the welfare of the mother and her newly born baby and is not
expected to care for any other children in the family. A Maternity Nurse is more expensive than a professional Nanny, although
it is possible to claim on health insurance if, for example, your Maternity Nurse is a registered midwife or you experienced
complications at birth or had a caesarean.
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