Irish au pair industry ‘decimated’ but demand for live-out nannies set to increase

THE au pair industry has been destroyed by the Covid-19 crisis leaving thousands of families without childcare during the summer months.

‘In a word, it’s decimated,’ said Cormac Maher, owner of www.aupairireland.ie – a site through which Irish families seek au pairs.

‘You have to feel bad for people who have to go out and work through all this and they can’t send their kids to childcare. They’re in a really tough spot,’ said Mr Maher.

According to the Migrant Rights Centre of Ireland there were as many as 20,000 au pairs working for Irish households in 2018. That number is thought to have decreased by about a third since a landmark employment rights case that year led to au pairs being paid the minimum wage.

However, thousands of households here still employ au pairs and last year aupairireland.ie hosted 3,650 job ads – half of which resulted in placements.

Other agencies place thousands more into Irish homes from across Europe and further afield. But since the Covid crisis that demand has virtually disappeared. ‘It literally fell overnight,’

said Mr Maher. ‘Obviously, people don’t want strangers coming into their homes possibly carrying the virus.

‘The number of jobs being posted is about one tenth what it was prior to the lockdown. So overall, it’s decimation.’

While uncertainty about travel restrictions is a major factor for traditional au pairs, Mr Maher said many au pairs – especially in cities – were now resident in Ireland and did not live with families.

‘It’s not the typical thing you think of anymore – some girl coming over from Sweden to mind a kid,’ he said.

‘It could be a woman in her late 40s, it could be a girl in her early 20s, they could be married, they could be single. The classic definition of an au pair no longer exists. There are lots of live-out au pairs and it’s by far the most popular option in cities where you might not have a spare room.’

Many of these au pairs – essentially nannies without formal qualifications – are Brazilian, Filipina or Eastern European.

Mr Maher believes this means the ‘live-out’ sector of the industry – at least – can recover quickly once lockdown is lifted.

He said: ‘A lot of them are hiring from within Ireland so I would see an increase in jobs when the lockdown is lifted – a lot of people do hire very quickly.

‘I don’t think it’s going to be Armageddon or anything but people are going to be competing for the available au pairs, so that could increase the wage and conditions for the au pairs.’