'I always wanted to go abroad. And I like children'. Motivations of young people to become au pairs in the USA.

Author(s)
Christine Geserick
Abstract

For adolescents, to become au pairs in the United States is a popular, yet unique form of cultural exchange: For a limited time, young women and men aged 18–26 live with a host family while providing child-care. What are their motivations behind doing so? Using data from semi-structured interviews with 24 future au pairs from Germany and Austria, this article presents three categories of motivation: (a) the appeal of a foreign culture (pull factors), (b) the wish to leave home (push factors), and (c) the decision to do so as au pair. It shows that pull and push factors are dominant, while the au pair setting itself is of weaker attraction. Rather, it may serve as a ‘vehicle’ to fulfill other wishes.

Organisation(s)
Project: Family Studies in Austria
Journal
Young: Nordic Journal of Youth Research
Volume
20
Pages
49-67
No. of pages
19
ISSN
1103-3088
Publication date
2012
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
504011 Genealogy
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/i-always-wanted-to-go-abroad-and-i-like-children-motivations-of-young-people-to-become-au-pairs-in-the-usa(ba8691ca-9527-49ba-9733-243e4db1bdac).html