Au pair shortage impacts families
Essential workers are struggling to find childcare and the agencies they rely on are desperately seeking Kiwi staff after the coronavirus outbreak sent au pairs packing.
Au pairs, or live-in nannies, have become increasingly common in New Zealand families where irregular or long hours are the norm.
The majority are young women from western Europe and North America doing a ‘‘gap year’’ before university or career.
But the global Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent border closures have forced many to cut their travels short, leaving dozens of Kiwi families scrambling to find alternative childcare, and au pair agencies struggling to stay afloat.
Manawatu¯ dairy farmers Nick and Rose Bertram have relied on au pairs to help with their five children for the past few years.
‘‘Three of our kids are under five and Rose works in town, so we’ve got our hands pretty full,’’ Nick Bertram said.
As well as childcare, au pairs help with housework and cooking. Those hosted by farming families aren’t expected to work on the farm but most take an interest, trying their hand at milking cows and feeding calves, Bertram said.
Their last au pair was with the family for five months before the threat of border closures cut her stay short. Her return to Germany left the Bertrams staring down the barrel of a busy calving season without the extra pair of hands.
‘‘Our next au pair was due in July but there’s no way that will be happening,’’ he said. ‘‘We’re OK at the moment because it’s not too busy but come July, it’ll be flat out.’’
But the Bertrams are among the lucky ones. After an initial panic, they were able to find a replacement, already in the country and able to join the family next month. That will bridge the gap until October, when they hope the au pair they originally planned to host for the season will be able to enter the country.
Morgan Holyoake, owner of Au Pair Link in Auckland, said the coronavirus outbreak had left her business in limbo, along with affected families.
‘‘I’ve got 40 families today wanting an au pair tomorrow but until the borders reopen, it’s going to be really difficult.’’
At least half of the au pairs who used Au Pair Link were placed with farming families and another 30 per cent went to families with at least one essential worker.
To help meet demand during the pandemic, Holyoake launched a programme to place travellers already in the country with families in need of an au pair. New Zealanders could also fill au pair roles, although only about 1 per cent of people placed by Au Pair Link were Kiwis, she said. ‘‘I’d love to give Kiwis jobs but they look at the cash in hand and it’s not that appealing for them in their own country.’’
For a 20- to 40-hour working week, Au Pair Link pays $200 and $260. Au pairs also receive room and board and a completion bonus at the end of their placement.
Another Auckland agency, Playschool Au Pairs, is also hoping to recruit Kiwis after its business plummeted by 50 per cent in eight weeks. With lockdowns beginning and their au pairs leaving on repatriation flights, owners Carissa Vaudrey and Deane Bearman knew they’d have to think outside the square.
‘‘We suddenly realised there were thousands of displaced people over the age of 18 within our own country that had been forced out of industries like hospitality, retail and tourism, who would love to try something new and also have an immediate income, somewhere to live and food in their stomachs,’’ Vaudrey said. ‘‘So we started thinking about using local talent to take on the au pair roles we have vacant.’’
The pair launched Playschool Nannies this week, with childcare options including live-in ‘‘demi nannies’’ for families wanting to keep their children safe within their ‘‘bubble’’.