The Danish Au Pair Scheme

This report is a study of the Danish au pair scheme and sheds light on how the scheme works today. The au pair scheme is based on a 1972 European agreement stipulating that a central purpose of an au pair stay is cultural exchange. An au pair residency permit in Denmark can last up to 24 months, during which the au pair resides with a specific host family. In Denmark the au pair is to occupy a familial position and to take care of domestic chores in return for board, lodging, and monthly allowance.
Generally, an au pair has to be between 18 and 30 years old, unmarried, and childless, and have a specified minimum of educational and linguistic qualifications (e.g. speak English). A host family must have children under the age of 18, as well as a house of a certain size, as an au pair is to have his or her own room.
An au pair’s chores should lase no more than 30 hours a week. Moreover, the au pair should have at least one day off each week, as well as a specified vacation. The minimum monthly allowance was raised to 3,200 DKK by January 2013. If the au pair lives in a country outside of Europe, the host family is also obliged to pay for the au pair’s journey home at the end of the stay.
Previous studies of the Danish au pair arrangement point out that the way in which host families and au pairs practice this arrangement today is not consistent with the intentions of the underlying European agreement. Rather than either party’s desiring cultural exchange, the au pairs are generally strongly motivated by financial needs, and the host families are motivated by needs for assistance with their household duties.
The investigation, which is primarily qualitative, is based on 69 interviews – 31 made with au pairs, 28 with host families and 10 with researchers and representatives of different organizations, for example NGOs that counsel au pairs and host families. In addition to this qualitative material, we use an analysis of register data from SFR (Styrelsen for Fastholdelse og Rekruttering – Danish Agency for Labour Retention and International Recruitment) and Statistics Denmark to describe characteristics of host families and au pairs. The analyses of register data are based on all new au pair residence permits issued in 2011, i.e. the analyses of the host families are based on the families that have received new au pairs in 2011.