Au pair in the Netherlands: how it works for host families
An au pair is someone aged 18 to 25 from abroad who lives with your family for at most a year, helps out for no more than 30 hours a week, and receives room and board plus up to 340 euro pocket money a month. Our example budget starts at about 590 to 930 euros a month in basic costs, excluding travel, room setup and other extras.
The IND treats it as a cultural exchange rather than work, and checks that you stay within the conditions. Below is the whole route: what an au pair does and does not do, what it costs, what is required of your family, how to find one, and what you put in writing before she arrives.
What exactly is an au pair?
An au pair comes to the Netherlands to get to know the language and the culture, lives with you for a year, and in return helps with the household and the children. She is not an employee. If the arrangement starts to look like work in practice, a court can still treat it as employment, with a right to minimum wage and holiday pay.
In practice it means she has her own room, eats with the family, has days off and keeps time for a course or for friends. She belongs to the household.
What may an au pair do?
At most 30 hours a week and at most 8 hours a day, with at least two free days a week. Within those hours it is light household tasks and looking after the children: the school run, cooking, tidying, playing, reading aloud.
Most host families deliberately plan below the maximum, between 25 and 28 hours, so that a sick child or a meeting that runs late does not immediately hit the limit. Heavy cleaning, care work for adults and working for anyone else fall outside the scheme.
Read on in how many hours an au pair may work and in the complete overview of the rules.
What does an au pair cost a month?
Our example comes to about 590 to 930 euros a month for pocket money, supplementary insurance, agency fees spread across 12 months, extra groceries and utilities, and the 423 euro IND fee. This is an illustrative budget with assumptions, not a market average. Travel, room setup, courses and other reimbursements are additional.
The agency placement and pocket money are not automatically multiplied per child. Still compare the same required childcare hours, including any additional care and childcare benefit.
The full breakdown, including the costs most families forget, is in what an au pair costs.
What does the IND require from your family?
Your family must consist of at least two people who hold Dutch nationality or a valid residence permit, and you need an independent, sustainable and sufficient income. For the period from 1 July to 31 December 2026 that means 3,505.50 euro gross a month for a couple and 2,804.40 euro for a single parent, excluding holiday allowance. The IND adjusts those amounts twice a year.
On top of that: the residence permit lasts at most one year and cannot be extended, the application costs 423 euro, and you agree a signed weekly schedule in advance. Without that schedule there is no permit.
How do you find an au pair?
You can find a candidate yourself or use an agency to make the match. Agree which services the agency provides and request an itemized quote. Finding a candidate yourself does not let you file the au pair permit application: only an IND-recognized au pair agency can submit it.
EU, EEA and Swiss citizens do not need an au pair residence permit. Different residence conditions apply to them. Your candidate's nationality and circumstances determine which route and administration are needed.
What you do yourself either way is the conversation. A video call where you are both honest about expectations prevents most of the problems that surface later. Twelve questions that help are on the au pair interview page.
Share the Au Pair Life quiz for questions to ask before matching with your candidate too. Five everyday situations help her prepare questions about the weekly schedule, location, days off, living together and childcare. Discuss those questions before deciding to match.
What do you put in writing before she arrives?
Three things, one of which (the weekly schedule) is legally required:
- The weekly schedule: seven days, with hours, tasks and two free days, signed by both of you. See the mandatory weekly schedule.
- The house rules, so unspoken assumptions do not collide: visitors, curfew, the car, food, wifi. See setting up house rules.
- The insurance. An au pair is not automatically covered by your policy and must be insured from the day she arrives. See au pair insurance.
What do the first weeks look like?
The first days go on practical things: registering with the municipality, a BSN, a bank account, a bike and a SIM card. Count on making time for that, because without a BSN the rest stalls.
After that it is mostly building a rhythm. What seems obvious in week one turns out to have been understood differently by week three. Host families who set aside ten minutes a week to go over how things are going solve small irritations before they grow.
Practical lists are in the arrival checklist and in the first week with your au pair. Share the first two weeks guide with your au pair so you can go through the steps together.
Frequently asked questions
May an au pair clean? Light household tasks yes, heavy cleaning no. The difference is the nature of the work: helping out in a household she lives in herself, as against work you would otherwise outsource.
Does an au pair get a salary? No, she gets pocket money, capped by law at 340 euro a month. Paying more carries tax risk and can turn the exchange into employment.
How long may an au pair stay? One year at most. The permit cannot be extended.
Can an au pair work more than 30 hours if she wants to? No. The 30 hour weekly and 8 hour daily limits are conditions of the permit, not an agreement between the two of you.
Do I get childcare benefit for an au pair? No. That is exactly why the comparison with a daycare center works out differently per situation, certainly with one child.