What do we pay besides pocket money?

What lies behind it

The monthly pocket money, the language course subsidy and the au pair insurance are a fixed part of the au pair time. In addition, you provide your au pair, free of charge, with their own lockable room with a window and full board. The au pair generally eats the same meals as the family and takes part in everyday family life.

The necessary journey to the language course must also be possible for the au pair free of charge. Depending on where you live, this could be organised by bicycle, by getting a lift, or by public transport. Many families choose to provide a Deutschlandticket.

For joint family activities, a simple rule of thumb applies: if you want your au pair to take part, you also cover the costs this creates. If you go to the zoo or the swimming pool together, you pay the au pair's entry fee. If you eat at a restaurant on a joint outing, you also cover the au pair's meal.

It looks different in private free time. If the au pair wants to go to the cinema, buy clothes, or do something else privately on their day off, they generally pay for this themselves.

Not everything needs to be regulated down to the last euro. An au pair lives with you as a new family member, in a foreign country, for many months. If they are ill, for example, and you bring them a simple medicine from the pharmacy, or occasionally help them with a private journey, this is not an obligation – but sometimes simply a nice gesture of living together.

Our tip: distinguish between mandatory costs, joint family expenses, and the au pair's private expenses. For everything else, a short, open conversation helps.