THE AU PAIR EMPLOYERS: WHO ARE THEY, WHOM THEY SEARCH FOR AND WHAT DO THEY AWAIT?

The starting point of our work is the often-stated re-emergence of individual paid childcare in western countries. We begin with an overview of the dominant explanations presented in literature available. Using data from online au pair agencies we try to answer the questions presented in the title of this study focusing on the differences between countries in demand and expectations. After presenting the results we try to validate the dominant explanations of the re-emergence of housemaids in western households via a confrontation with our findings. While failing in the attempt to prove that the influence of growing employment of women, the unwillingness of men to involve in doing housework and the shortcoming and dismantling of (subsidized) institutional childcare are in an anticipated correlation with demand for paid childcare we present alternative hypothesis to explain the phenomenon discussed.