Au Pair
Key facts
Au pairs live and work for a host family in another country and are usually in charge of taking care of the family's children. They are young individuals, seeking to explore another culture while providing child care services as well as other light housekeeping activities such as cleaning, gardening and shopping.
An au pair role involves living with a host family in a different country, primarily focusing on childcare. Your days will be filled with activities like playing with children, preparing meals, assisting with homework, and taking them to appointments or activities. You’ll also contribute to light household tasks, creating a supportive and enriching environment for the family.
- • Providing attentive and engaging childcare for children of various ages.
- • Assisting with meal preparation, including planning and cooking nutritious meals.
- • Helping with homework and educational activities.
Where this occupation is in demand
Reported labour shortages and surpluses, by year. Published for occupation groups, not for individual job titles.
Figures cover Personal care workers — 16 jobs including this one.
In shortage: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Italy and 2 more.
Longest-running shortage: Denmark, 4 years.
Select a place on the map to see its figures.
About this source›
Source: ELA/EURES labour shortages and surpluses. Readings are published at occupation-group level, and cover Europe. Editions differ in annex layout and country coverage, so a change between years does not always mean the labour market changed. Countries in grey were not reported, which is not the same as being in balance.
What these words mean
The four things this section reports
- Reported demand
- Whether employers report needing people in this job — a judgement published by a national or EU body, not a count.
- Where it is heading
- Which way employment in this job is expected to move over the coming years, from an official projection.
- Openings
- Roughly how many openings arise — from growth and from people leaving the job.
- Typical pay
- What people in this job typically earn where the source publishes it. Blank does not mean unpaid; it means nobody publishes it for that place.
A measure is left out when nobody publishes it for that place, rather than shown as zero.
Which way the market leans for you
- In your favour
- More openings than people looking — employers are competing for candidates.
- Balanced
- Openings and candidates are roughly matched.
- Competitive
- More people looking than openings — expect to compete.
- Mixed evidence
- Sources disagree, or the same occupation group is short in one part and oversupplied in another.
Every source resolves to one of these four, so there is a single vocabulary to learn. What differs is the evidence behind it, which is printed underneath each verdict — a measured ratio of openings to jobseekers, or an assessment published by a national body.
How this job compares with other jobs in the same country
- Strong
- Among the strongest in that country
- Good
- Stronger than most jobs in that country
- Mixed
- About typical for that country
- Weak
- Weaker than most jobs in that country
This is a rank within one country, not a score you can carry across borders — the registers behind two countries count different people, so the same number means different things in each. It is also why a job can be among the strongest in a country and still show as Competitive: it leads the field in a market that is crowded overall.
Where these come from
Every figure is published by a national statistics office, a public employment service or an EU body, and each card names its source and the period it covers. Some places are counted monthly, others assessed once or twice a year, so two places on the same map can be describing different moments — the date is always shown.
None of this predicts one person’s chances. It describes a market.
Reported demand · Typical pay · Where it is heading (United States, Ireland, Australia, Malta, United Kingdom)
| Reported demand | Typical pay | Where it is heading | |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | Not reported | $34,980 2025-05 | −2.9% 2024–2034 · BLS 2024-2034 |
| Ireland | Not reported | — | +18.5% 2023–2035 · Cedefop 2026 * |
| Australia | Shortage reported Jobs and Skills Australia 2025 * | — | — |
| Malta | Shortage reported ELA/EURES 2024 * | — | +75% 2023–2035 · Cedefop 2026 * |
| United Kingdom | Not reported | £22,955 2025-provisional | — |
* Published for occupation groups, not for individual job titles.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (OEWS)
Source: Office for National Statistics, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Open Government Licence v3.0
Do you guide students, clients or employees? Use this occupation data in your organisation.
Future Outlook for au pair
The outlook for au pair is exceptionally stable. While AI tools will assist with daily tasks, the core of this role relies on human judgment, resulting in a high resilience score of 84%.
How are these scores calculated?
The Resilience Score (0–100) estimates how structurally protected this occupation is from automation and AI disruption, based on task-level analysis. Higher scores mean more human-judgment-intensive tasks. AI Exposure shows the estimated percentage of task hours that current AI capabilities could affect. These are model-derived structural indicators, not predictions about individual job security.
How could au pair change as AI adoption grows?
Human judgement, trust, and context remain strong protectors for this role.
Illustrative scenario based on task automatability — not a forecast. Values are rounded the further ahead you look.
Human judgement, trust, and context remain strong protectors for this role.
Illustrative scenario based on task automatability — not a forecast. Values are rounded the further ahead you look.
Model-based estimate. Use it as a planning signal, not a guarantee.
Compare this to your profile
How AI may change this role
Deterministic, model-based interpretation of current role signals — not a guarantee of replacement.
What still depends on people
- assist children with homework
- prepare sandwiches
- assist children in developing personal skills
Where AI may become a co-pilot
- handle chemical cleaning agents
Tasks most exposed to automation
No single task here is highly automatable yet.
Vital Signs & AI Vectors
AI Exposure Vectors
0-100%Exposure to physical automation, robotics, and sensor-driven task displacement
Exposure to content generation, creative augmentation, and large language model tools
Exposure to AI-assisted analysis, pattern recognition, and predictive modelling tasks
Exposure to workflow automation, decision-support software, and process digitisation
Technical Details
NexFuture v3.0 estimates automation exposure natively from ESCO essential-skill groups, weighted by skill mass and calibrated against expert anchors. Scores are probabilistic estimates, not guarantees. See the NexFuture Methodology White Paper for full details.
Measures automation exposure. It does not measure pay, demand, or how many jobs exist near you.
What people in this role usually do
Education
A typical day as an au pair
09 09:00 · Morning prepare sandwiches
10 10:30 · Mid-morning assist children with homework
12 12:00 · Midday assist children in developing personal skills
14 14:00 · Afternoon attend to children's basic physical needs
15 15:30 · Late afternoon communicate with youth
17 17:00 · Wrap-up entertain people
Task order is illustrative. Individual days vary.
What you need to do this work
The skills, knowledge and tools this role calls for — and the traits and rewards that come with it.
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assist children with homework
Help children with school tasks. Assist the child with the interpretation of the assignment and the solutions. Make sure the child studies for tests and exams.
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assist children in developing personal skills
Encourage and facilitate the development of children's natural curiosity and social and language abilities through creative and social activities such as storytelling, imaginative play, songs, drawing, and games.
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play with children
Engage in activities for enjoyment, tailored to children of a certain age. Be creative and improvise to amuse children with activities such as tinkering, sports or board games.
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attend to children's basic physical needs
Tend to children by feeding them, dressing them, and, if necessary, regularly changing their diapers in a sanitary manner.
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supervise children
Keep the children under supervision for a certain period of time, ensuring their safety at all times.
-
entertain people
Provide people with amusement by doing or offering a performance, like a show, a play or an artistic performance.
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prepare sandwiches
Make filled and open sandwiches, paninis and kebabs.
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handle chemical cleaning agents
Ensure proper handling, storage, management and disposal of cleaning chemicals (CIP) in accordance with regulations.
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promote human rights
Promote and respect human rights and diversity in light of the physical, psychological, spiritual and social needs of autonomous individuals, taking into account their opinions, beliefs and values, and the international and national codes of ethics, as well as the ethical implications of healthcare provision, ensuring their right to privacy and honouring for the confidentiality of healthcare information.
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communicate with youth
Use verbal and non-verbal communication and communicate through writing, electronic means, or drawing. Adapt your communication to children and young people`s age, needs, characteristics, abilities, preferences, and culture.
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give constructive feedback
Provide founded feedback through both criticism and praise in a respectful, clear, and consistent manner. Highlight achievements as well as mistakes and set up methods of formative assessment to evaluate work.
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maintain relations with children's parents
Inform children`s parents of the activities planned, program`s expectations and children`s individual progress.
baby care
The procedures required to take care of children up to the age of 1, such as feeding, bathing, soothing, and diapering the baby.
disability care
The specific methods and practices used in providing care to people with physical, intellectual and learning disabilities.
- workplace sanitation
- common children's diseases
Path to become an au pair
What it typically takes to qualify: education level, where it is a regulated profession, and where to study.
Primary education
115 programmes in 13 countries teach the core skills of this job. Plus 200 short courses that build single skills.
A few examples, taught in the language of this page:
Child Development (HEALTH SERVICES VOCATIONAL SCHOOL)
Türkiye
These are 6 of 315.
Sources
- 1. Source: Opintopolku.fi (Finnish National Agency for Education)
- 2. Source: YÖK Atlas, Council of Higher Education (yokatlas.yok.gov.tr).
- 3. Source: Study in Korea, National Institute for International Education (NIIED) (studyinkorea.go.kr).
- 4. Source: Europass Qualification Dataset Register (European Commission)
- 5. Contains information from MySkillsFuture Course Run accessed on 2026-09-28 from data.gov.sg which is made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0 (https://data.gov.sg/open-data-licence)
Growth Pathways & Similar Roles
Explore typical career progression paths, adjacent skills, and similar roles to plan your next transition.
Where does au pair fit?
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Similarity scores based on skill overlap from ESCO data.
For organisations
The data on this page, working for your students, clients and staff.
Frequently asked questions
What kind of support does the host family provide?
How long do au pair placements typically last?
What are the key personal qualities needed to be a successful au pair?
How much does Au Pair pay in the United States?
Sources: ESCO O*NET ELA/EURES Cedefop BLS Data updated October 3, 2026 About our data