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Natália Amarins 

Professor Melissa Brega 

ESOL 0310 

17 May 2020 

The new modern slavery 

According to a State Department internal analysis of the Au Pair progra​m​ ​agencies 

received and reported to the government more than 3,500 incidents in 2015. ​Au pair is a cultural 

exchange for those looking to acquire fluency in a foreign language and experience a different 

culture working 45 hours a week taking care of children of a family (known as host Family) in 

exchange for a $500 scholarship, a private room, food and a weekly payment of $195.75. 

Although the term Au pair comes from French and means "at par" or "equal"​. According​ to Zack 

Kopplin in an article published on ​Politico Magazine o​ ne in five au pairs has already gone 

through a difficult situation during the exchange. They report horror stories of “overworked, 

humiliated, refused meals, threatened with arrest and deportation — even victims of theft” (Zack 

Kopplin). This official figure is based on the incidents that have been reported to the au pair 

agencies, but the other various problems that the program can bring to these young people who 

decide to ​board​ to the United States are not accounted for. Currently, there is a great debate 

between the government and the agencies whether the Au Pair program should be terminated or 

not. However, analyzing the numbers and cases, the Au Pair program should be extin​guished 

because it does not have a stricter control over the participants (host family and au pair), for 

being a job that refe​rs​ to modern slavery and for the countless emotional problems that the au 

pairs experience during the exchange year. 

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First of all, the program is sold in different ways. On the registration site, the agencies 

advertise the program as a cheaper and easier exchange for improving English, getting to know 

North American culture and being part of a family, like a sister or older brother. However, in the 

registration session for families, the program is sold as a cheap and comfortable childcare option 

for having a person living in your home available to take care of your children at any time of the 

day. Many au pairs come to the United States with an expectation and when they arrive here, 

they realize that the cultural Exchange is really just an exchange of work. ​Julia Beebe, lead 

organizer at Boston-based Matahari Women Workers’ Center​, affirms to ​CS Monitor​ that “​The 

program has taken the form of a work program and been advertised by the au pair agencies as 

cheap childcare”. ​Most of them end up working more than 45 hours a week for the same amount 

of $195.75. They end up spending more time with the children than the parents themselves. It is 

a very big responsibility to only receive $4.35 an hour. According to Zack Kopplin, many 

families require the au pair to do more than what is in the contract, such as housework and s​even 

deny them food. ​Among in the au pair cluster​, it is not difficult to find stories of girls who were 

threatened and treated as slaves for demanding their rights. 

It is inevitable to say that having an au pair brings benefits to a host family, ​you​ have a 

trusted person spending more time with your child than you do, you have the security of having a 

person trained to handle all phases of your child, you have the option to change that person as 

many times as you want, in case she or he does not suit your requirements. And all this, for a 

minimum amount. ​Actually, well below the minimum​. However, the other side of the story is 

quite complicated. ​Often for au pairs it ends up being a nightmare​. The responsibility of taking 

care of children who are not y​our​s for nine hours a day (or more), children who do not speak 
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your native language and who often despise you for performing the fu​nction​ you are in is at the 

very least complex. The program causes emotional problems for those who have a bad 

experience because going through these risk situations in a country that is not their own without 

a​ support, brings a feeling of inferiority and vulnerability. The problem is so great that there are 

psychological clinics that offer specialized therapy services for those who have been or are still 

an au pair. 

One solution for the program to work is th​e inspection​. People who apply to be an au pair 

are evaluated and trained by the agencies before arriving at the host Family home. They have a 

background checked thoroughly​. However, families do not go through the background check 

process. Families only need to pay a fee and prove that they can offer a private room for the au 

pair. This is one of the major shortcomings of the program. Another point is the willingness of 

the agencies to favor host families in the event of a r​ematc​h or in cases where the program rules 

are not respected by them. When a rule is broken by the host Family, agencies suggest that au 

pairs are flexible, but if a rule is broken by an au pair i​t​ is automatically out of the program. In 

2019 a class action was triggered by au pairs against the agencies stating that the au pair program 

is a domestic job, so the hourly rate should be in line with the state minimum wage. The case 

was won and is already in effect in Massachusetts. According to Olleen Slevin in an article 

published in ​AP News,​ the agreement says that agencies should encourage families and au pairs 

to reach an agreement on increasing the stipulated amount - “The minimum pay is based on the 

federal minimum wage of $7.25 for 45 hours of work minus a 40 percent deduction for room and 

board” (Slevin). However, after this decision many families left the program because it is not 
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feasible to pay a minimum wage plus board and food​,​ a nanny is cheaper. A​nd​ other families 

who decided to stay on the program reduced the hours worked by the au pair. 

In conclusion, currently in most states the program is not fair for au pairs, but it is fair for 

host families, b​ut​ if actions like class action are taken, it is fair for the au pair and not viable for 

families. In fact, the program has no middle ground. One side is always vulnerable. According to 

Janie Chuang, a law professor at American University in Washington​ in an interview given to ​AP 

News​ “There are a lot of people who have wonderful experiences...but then there are au pairs 

with horrible experiences”. However, it should be consciously analyzed, keep the program 

because few au pairs get a​lon​g? Or extin​guish​ the program because most of the experiences fail? 

Is this the price that the au pair must pay to learn a new language? It seems fairer for ​immigrants 

to find other types of exchange to experience the cultural experience in the US and families to 

hire Americans citizens for this position and thus help people who are unemployed and in need 

of a job. 

   
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Works Cited 

“Au Pair Rights: More Protections, but at What Cost to Cultural Exchange?” ​The Christian 

Science Monitor​, The Christian Science Monitor, 24 Jan. 2020, 

www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2020/0124/Au-pair-rights-More-protections-but-at-wha

t-cost-to-cultural-exchange​. 

Kopplin, Zack. “'They Think We Are Slaves'.” ​POLITICO Magazine​, 27 Mar. 2017, 

www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/03/au-pair-program-abuse-state-department-2149

56. 

Slevin, Colleen. “About 10,000 Au Pairs to Get Paid in Class-Action Settlement.” ​AP NEWS,​  

Associated Press, 18 July 2019, apnews.com/34b821b730624fb4b42a7783f4ef61cc. 

A good, well thought out essay. Some of your vocabulary choices are not right, but I have 

pointed most out to you! There are some minor grammar errors and sentence structure 

issues, which I have also commented on. 

I was myself an au pair in both France and Germany many years ago! The concept must have 

changed (or maybe the people who abuse the system) because I had very good experiences 

in both countries!