An au pair is in charge of taking care of the children and lives within the home of the family. The au pair is provided accommodation and meals and a stipend of spending money. The family gains a loving caretaker for their children and an addition to the family. Expats have both found work, and employed, au pairs.
Nannies (assistantes maternelles or nourrice) are paid to either look after children on their own premises or at your home. Assistante maternelle are required to holds a state childcare diploma and they are subject to regular inspections. The maximum number of children a assistantes maternelles can look over is five children.
There are many agencies of state-approved au pair in Paris and other large cities in France that help you locate a assistantes maternelles. There are even many bilingual childcare givers. Listings for qualified nannies can be requested from the local mairie.
Hiring a nanny privately is also legal. The au pair must be within the country as a legal resident and the employer pays all associated social-security charges (any paid work over five hours per week is subject to these charges). To make this easier, the government has created the chèque emploi service. This simplifies the process and returns nearly all of these charges in the form of tax deductions.
The average cost of a nanny is between €200 - 400 a week. A big factor in determining price is where you are in France as well as if the nanny is live-in or live-out. To mitigate cost, nanny-sharing is becoming popular.
An excellent place to look for a nanny is on Easy Expat's job listings. You can also ask questions and find advice on the forums or the expat network.
If hired through an agency, the agency usually guides the au pair through the process.
France also offers a working holiday visa (Permis Vacances Travail, PVT) to Australian, Canadian, Japanese, New Zealand, South Korean, Argentinean, and Taiwanese citizens.
For more information on visas in general, consult the section on "Passport and Visas".
Update 13/02/2013
Babbel is an international success with millions of active subscribers and ranked as the world's #1 innovative company in education.
Learn and review on your own schedule: Mobile, tablet or desktop compatible, with lessons about 10-15 min.
Expert-made courses: Learn the basics or focus on topics like travel, culture, or business.
Start speaking right away: Learn to speak a new language naturally and conversationally.
Every learner is different: Each course is based on your native language and personal interests.
Remember everything: Babbel employs proven cognitive techniques that move new vocab to your long-term memory.
Refine your pronunciation: Practise speaking and improve your pronunciation with speech recognition technology.
Registration with Babbel is completely free of charge and the first lesson in every course is FREE to try (Depending on the language you choose, that's 30-80 free lessons!).
If you want full access to Babbel's courses, simply choose a subscription that works best for you. Buy with confidence: 20-day money back guarantee!
12/10/2003