Au Pair Agency Ratings & Reviews

Read Our Au Pair Agency Reviews and Ratings
Before You Host an Au Pair

Your Children will Thank You!

Review of All 14 Au Pair Agencies - 2011-2012

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Included in Our Au Pair Agency Reviews:

• Major Agency Strengths - agencies with low fees; good au pair health insurance, quality au pairs, parent recommendations, customer service, local support, etc.
• Major Agency Weaknesses - most expensive fees, poor screening methods, au pairs who don't drive or speak English, poor customer service, etc.
• Agencies that have Quality au pairs - which agencies shine, which agencies to avoid!
• Cost-effective au pair agencies - we outline all costs for each 14 agencies
• Specific Programs -  we identify agencies that have unique programs for special needs children, infants and half-time childcare
• Agency Websites -  which sites are user friendly, offer great host parent resources, ease of navigation so you can easily find what you need, etc.
• Phone Service -  how agency staff handle calls, which agencies depend on answering machines, emergency coverage, helpfulness, etc.
• Host Family Ratings - how did host parents like yourself rate each agency?

 Not all au pair agencies are the same - know more and choose better! 

An Educated Parent Makes the Best Childcare Consumer

Read All 14 Reviews Now

Which Au Pair Agencies Recruit the Best Drivers?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 20 million U.S. children and adolescents suffer preventable motor car injuries annually.  A recent survey conducted by Au Pair Care also found that child safety is the number one concern for its American host families.  Au Pair Care, a leading au pair agency, recently added a driving safety course to their program - to lessen the number of car accidents with au pairs behind the wheel.  

Driving is an important skill that your au pair should have.  Does your au pair drive well?  How can you tell?  Read about the au pair agencies that get it right - we connect you with the au pair agencies that really shine and receive top ratings on driving. 

Read the entire 2011 review

How Much Does It COST??  Some au pair agencies are more affordable compared to others! 

Annual Au Pair Agency Fees Differ Across the 14 Agencies:

• agency application/processing fees -  these vary from agency to agency
• au pair domestic travel  - from the airport to your home
• application fees can range from $60 - $350!
• hidden fees - you really have to search around for these! 

Yikes!  What is a busy working mom to do?

Don't worry!  We Do the Work For You - We Have All 14 Agencies Fees from the Least to Most Expensive!

Click Here to Read the Entire Report

The Most Helpful Au Pair Agencies Ratings

Top Problems Host Parents Complained About

What are the most problematic or troublesome problems families complain about?  Once again, as in last year’s survey, the “top” problems that occur most frequently are:

• College Courses (83%)

• Personality Conflicts (70%)

• Au Pair's Lack of Childcare Experience (59%)

See which agencies are rated as most helpful by host parents.

Do you need an au pair who speaks English well?  No au pair agency guarantees your au pair will arrive speaking good English.  

Host parent complaints like this one are pretty typical: 

"After many hours interviewing several au pairs who looked good on paper and who spoke decent English, we finally matched.  Our au pair arrived and after 24 hours we realized she could not communicate with us at all.  We made it clear to the agency (and the au pair) she had to speak good, clear English as our twins were only 3 years old!  Of course, we had to fire her and start again."

Host Parents Rate their Au Pair Agencies - There are 5 top-performing agencies who deserve special mention!   

Read the entire review

 Are Host Parents Satisfied with their Counselors? 

Counselors, LCCs or Regional Representatives are very important to the overall success of the match between host families and their au pairs. Providing expert local support is critical to the overall perception of customer satisfaction for each agency.  However, relationships with an agency counselor can be contentious and adversarial.  Many counselors are inexperienced and many act solely as sales people.  How about your counselor?  Does your counselor have a good reputation?  Or is your's a lemon that you would like to return? 

Counselors are the local agency staff that is assigned to each family and au pair and their duties are numerous:

• Provides ongoing support and assistance throughout the year

• Offers monthly meetings to the local au pairs

• Maintains monthly contact with both host parent and au pair

• Provides assistance to both families and au pairs with health problems, college courses, driving issues and childcare.

• Provides ongoing safety and childcare workshops for au pairs

• Provides advice and counseling when problems arise
   

Host Parents Rate their Satisfaction with their Counselors! 

Read the entire report

Au Pair Care’s Infant Specialized Care Program 

Au Pair Care’s unique program—Infant Specialized Care—provides families with an au pair who specializes in infant care and child development.

Infant Specialized Care au pairs receive an additional 40 hours (here in the USA) in infant care training and must have a minimum of 200 hours in childcare experience with babies under the age of two. 

Host parents whose au pairs went through the program completed surveys evaluating its success and the findings are summarized in our New Survey Au Pair Care's Infant Specialized Care Program Report!

The majority of our survey respondents (66%) used an Infant Specialized Au Pair for a year or more, consequently most of the ratings are made by host parents experienced with this program and their au pairs who are specially trained to care for infants.

Host parents rate their specially trained au pairs on these unique skills:

Feeding, Bathing, CPR, Baby Massage, Knowledge of Child Development and Sign Language training and more. 

If you have an infant and are considering an au pair, YOU NEED TO READ THIS REVIEW NOW!

Read the entire review