The Pains of Au Pairs Living with Foreign Families

The idea of exploring a country like the Netherlands, experiencing a new culture and living with a local European family, to help them with the children and some light chores around the house, appeals to many in Southeast Asia. Including young Indonesian women. The Au Pair program, which brands itself as a cultural exchange opportunity also offers pocket money (no payment), a free language course, and often a free flight ticket to the destination country.

But our research shows that this cultural exchange program, is also the beginning of various exploitation practices. In several cases the young women, often from vulnerable backgrounds, face long days, low pay, and demands that don’t match the concept of a cultural exchange. Eager to find a better life for themselves and their families back home, the program is also being used a springboard for a undocumented life in the shadow economy of Europe. 

The investigation team unravelled a profit-fuelled cultural exchange system, where European agencies and matching-websites make mounting profits. Where a growing number of Dutch host families opt for an au pair without the regulation of an official agency. And where the Au Pairs are being confronted with a severe lack of protection from the Indonesian government and a constant suspicious, controlling attitude from Au Pair agencies and Dutch government.

© ✍️  Illustration by Ali (Jaring.id)