Since the 1970s, highly educated families in Austria have employed Au-pairs for taking care of their children. Why
have these families preferred Au-pairs to kindergartens with qualified teachers? Were Au-pairs just a flexible
substitute or did they have additional functions in the family? Which social and political climate has favoured this
private form of childcare?
The empirical basis of the work was the documentation of one of the major Austrian Au-pair agencies for the
period 1978 - 2000, particularly 298 self-descriptions from guest families and the agencys annual reports. The
material was supplemented by interviews with ten guest families and by interviews with two experts. Thus is
possible to analyze the socio-demographic characteristics of guest-families in Vienna and its suburbs, their
motivations for taking Au-pairs, and their expectations.
The findings indicate that Au-pairs usually serve several roles within the families: for instance, one very important
role is to "double" mothers in order to free their minds to continue their social and work life. The pair system is
also discussed in view of its two historic threads: one is a long European "education abroad" tradition for rather
upper class children. The other thread is a "work-migration" tradition for lower class childs that had to go to cities
to work as domestic servants. Which of the two traditions dominates the Au-pair market depends on the economic
situation of the countries from which the Au-pairs come. Consequently, the economic and political changes around
1989 in Eastern Europe have had major impacts on the characteristics of Au-pair jobs in Austria