An au pair is a young person who lives with you, receives pay, board and lodging and helps with the children and the household for at most 25 hours a week while she learns Swedish. A nanny comes at booked times, has experience and background checks, and costs from 165 kr an hour after RUT, the Swedish tax deduction for household services that is taken off the invoice directly. An au pair suits families with school-age children, a spare room and time for a new person in the house. A nanny suits most others.
A house in Danderyd with three children, two of them at school, a guest room nobody uses and two parents who commute into town. The question of an au pair comes up at the dinner table about once a year. It sounds like the perfect solution: someone who is always at home, who can do pick-ups, make snacks and take an evening now and then. The reality is more mixed. Here is what actually separates an au pair from a nanny, in rules, money and everyday life.
What an au pair is, according to the rules
An au pair placement is a cultural exchange, not a childcare service. That matters, because it governs everything else. For au pairs from countries outside the EU, Migrationsverket's (the Swedish Migration Agency's) rules apply, and they are clear:
- Aged 18 to 30
- At most 25 hours of work a week, consisting of light housework and childcare
- Swedish studies for the greater part of the time
- Pay of at least 3,500 kr a month before tax, plus board and lodging with her own room
- A permit for at most twelve months
- You are the employer and pay employer contributions
Au pairs from EU countries need no permit, but the same principle applies in practice: it is a young person who comes to learn the language and see Sweden, and who helps out in return. Anyone counting on 40 hours of childcare a week for 3,500 kr has misunderstood the arrangement, and it is also illegal for au pairs on a permit.
Comparison: au pair versus nanny
| Au pair | Nanny from an agency | |
|---|---|---|
| Who | A young person, 18 to 30, often with no professional experience of children | An experienced person, interviewed, with a criminal record extract, paediatric CPR and references |
| Working hours | At most 25 hours a week | The hours you book, from a few a week to full time |
| Lives with you | Yes, her own room is required | No |
| Cost | Pay of at least 3,500 kr/month before tax plus employer contributions, board, lodging, often a language course | From 165 kr/hour after RUT, only for booked hours |
| Administration | You are the employer: permit, contributions, declarations | One invoice a month, RUT already deducted |
| Insurance | You arrange it | Liability insurance through the agency during working hours |
| If it does not work out | Difficult, you live together | You change nanny |
| Languages for the children | Often a new language in the house, a big advantage | Our nannies speak Swedish, English, Bulgarian, Spanish and Arabic |
The real cost of an au pair
The pay is the smallest part. Count on employer contributions of roughly 31.42 percent on top of the pay, a room you cannot use, food for one more adult, higher electricity and water bills, often a Swedish course and insurance. And those 25 hours have to cover both children and household. If you need 30 hours a week with the children, you still have to solve five of them some other way. Compare that with a nanny where you pay for exactly the hours you book, get RUT taken off the invoice and have nobody in the guest room.
That does not mean an au pair is expensive per hour. Counted per hour worked, it can be cheaper than a nanny. But having a person living with you is a completely different thing, and that is where most families underestimate what it involves.
Experience and checks
An au pair is often nineteen, from another country, with experience of younger siblings or summer jobs. That can be wonderful for an eight year old who gets a big sister for a year. It is something else for a four month old baby. The checks an agency does vary, and you often meet the person for the first time on a video call. Compare that with how a serious nanny agency works: an interview in person, a criminal record extract, paediatric CPR, two to three references from real employers. Read more in our guide to How to choose a nanny agency.
Who does an au pair suit?
- Families with school-age children, where the job is pick-ups, snacks and company, not caring for a baby
- Families with a spare room and a home where one more person is not in the way
- Families who want a new language and a new culture in the house, and who have the energy to be a host family
- Families with an even need over a year, not peaks and troughs
- Families who can cope with being an employer and everything that entails
Who does a nanny suit?
- Families with children under three, where experience and checks weigh heaviest
- Families without a guest room or without any wish to share their home
- Families whose needs vary: more hours one term, fewer the next
- Families who want an invoice and a RUT deduction, not an employer declaration
- Families who want to be able to change person if it does not work out, without anyone having to move
Many families do both, at different times: an au pair for a year when the children are seven and ten, a nanny when the children were small and once the au pair year is over. There is nothing wrong with that. The mistake you can make is choosing an au pair because it seems cheap, and discovering in October that it was not.
How we do it with our families
Aleksandra often meets families who have had an au pair and now want a nanny. The most common reason is not that the au pair was bad, but that the family grew tired of having someone in the house and of the 25 hours that were never enough. One family in Danderyd switched to Sanna two afternoons a week plus one evening: picking up two school-age children, snacks, swimming lessons on Wednesdays, dinner prepared. The mother said it was fewer hours than the au pair had done but that they were exactly the hours they needed, and that the guest room was now a study. Sanna has been there for over a year now, the same days every week.
Would you like a nanny who comes on the same days every week and whom the children know? Book a free first meeting with the nanny in your home, and we will work out a price for your hours.
Read more: Nanny or babysitter · Nanny in Stockholm · Employing a nanny yourself · Prices
Frequently asked questions
How much does an au pair cost a month?
At least the pay Migrationsverket requires, 3,500 kr a month before tax for au pairs from outside the EU, plus employer contributions, board, lodging with her own room and often a Swedish course. Also count on more meals, a higher electricity bill and a room you cannot use. The real cost is considerably higher than the pay.
How much is an au pair allowed to work?
At most 25 hours a week of light housework and childcare under Migrationsverket's rules for au pairs from countries outside the EU, and she must study Swedish for the greater part of her time. An au pair placement is a cultural exchange, not full-time employment.
Do you get RUT for an au pair?
You can get RUT when you employ a private individual, but the deduction is then calculated on the employer contributions and you handle the administration through Skatteverket (the Swedish Tax Agency). Check the current rules there. With a nanny agency registered for F-tax, the deduction of 50 percent of the labour cost is taken off the invoice directly.
Which suits a family with small children best?
For children under three, a nanny with experience and checks is the safer choice, because an au pair is young, often inexperienced and comes to learn Swedish. For school-age children in a family with a spare room and an appetite for a new person in the house, an au pair can be a lovely year.
What happens if it does not work out with the au pair?
Then you are living with someone it is not working with, and that is the big problem. Ending it requires her to find a new family or travel home. With a nanny from an agency you change person. It is a difference worth weighing up before you decide.