"Doing your research will give you confidence that you are choosing the au pair best suited to your family."

A Comprehensive List of all the Au Pair Agencies in the United States

AgentAuPair: www.agentaupair.com
GoAuPair www.goaupair.com
AuPair in America www.aupairinamerica.com
AuPair Foundation: www.aupairfoundation.org
AuPair International: www.aupairint.com
AuPairCare: www.aupaircare.com
Cultural Care AuPair: www.culturalcare.com
Cultural Homestay International www.chiaupairusa.org
EurAuPair: www.euraupair.com
Expert AuPair: www.expertaupair.com
InterExchange: www.aupairusa.org
USAuPair: www.usaupair.com

A Glossary of Au Pair Terms


Au pair: A person, usually a young foreign visitor, employed “on par” to take care of children in exchange for room and board.

Host family: The family that hires an au pair

Match: When a host family offers the position of au pair to a foreign young person.

Rematch: If a match is not successful, a host family may rematch, firing their current au pair and hiring another au pair.

Match Fee: The fee paid to the sponsoring organization or au pair agency when a match is made and an au pair is hired by a host family.

Sponsoring Organization: The State Department term for au pair agency.  There are eleven sponsoring agencies that are sanctioned by the State Department to arrange au pair matches.  See RESOURCES for a complete list.

Local Coordinator: The agency representative in charge of marketing the program to prospective families and providing support to families and au pairs in their cluster.  The Local Coordinator arranges Cluster Events.

Cluster: Geographic region managed by a Local Coordinator.  Each Local Coordinator managed fifty – seventy-five au pair families.

Cluster activity: Monthly or bi-monthly activities organized by the Local Coordinator for the au pairs in a cluster.

J-1: Type of visa, issued by the Department of State that allows an au pair to work in the United States.

Educational Requirement: The Department of State requirement that all au pairs complete sixty hours of college coursework during their year as an au pair.

Extension: Instituted in 2005, the Department of State allowance that extends the J-1 visa for an additional, six, nine, or twelve months.

Floater Pool: All au pairs who have not had a successful match are placed in the floater pool where all families looking for an au pair look to find a new au pair.

In-Country Au Pair: If in re-match, a host family may wish to look at an “in country au pair” which is an au pair seeking to extend their J-1 visa but change host families.  In-country au pairs are in the floater pool.

On-Line Resources and Support


There are many on-line resources for current host families. I recommend the following blogs and sites: