AuPairCare Addresses Report Highlighting the Challenges of Working Parents

The National Partnership for Women and Families has released a report highlighting the state of working parents in America and their experiences with family leave, childcare and work-life balance. The report, titled 'Expecting Better: A State-by-State Analysis of Laws That Help New Parents' evaluates the natural challenges that arise when busy households are raising young children. According to the National Partnership for Women and Families, 'Nearly 71 percent of children live in families where all parents work,' a statistic that AuPairCare is well aware of and seeks to address.

'Many families hosting an au pair through our program are dual-working parents,' shares Christina Magro, Northern California Regional Manager for AuPairCare. 'Hectic schedules can make finding flexible yet quality childcare a daunting task, which is why parents turn to us to help them find the perfect au pair.'

An au pair is a young person who comes from overseas to live with an American family for 12 months and provides childcare as part of a cultural exchange program. AuPairCare recruits au pairs from over 40 countries, screens the au pairs extensively prior to their acceptance into the program and provides further training to the au pairs before and after their arrival in the US. Au pairs have often been considered a non-traditional form of childcare, but families of all shapes and sizes have been catching on to the best-kept secret in childcare.

According to the National Partnership for Women and Families' report, the number of single-parent families is growing, further highlighting the importance of reliable and cost-effective childcare. By providing childcare at the same cost regardless of the number of children in the household, au pairs are the perfect answer to this trend. 'Often families have come to us as a solution for childcare when standard daycares, relatives or friends, and even working-from-home situations don't work out or just aren't right for their lifestyle,' said AuPairCare's Sacramento Area Director. 'It is my job to prepare and educate parents on the tremendous benefits of a live-in au pair and make their lives as parents that much easier.' Families quickly discover that au pairs are more than just a live-in nanny; instead, they often feel like part of the family. In fact, the word au pair means 'on par' in French, further highlighting the spirit of our au pair program.

Read more about the National Partnership for Women and Families' here.