Temporary migration to the UK as an 'Au Pair': Cultural exchange or reproductive labour?

They have been absent from academic, public and political debates because of their specific profile and the role that they play. This paper aims to illuminate this group, theoretically, by looking at issues of mobility and social reproduction, and empirically, to establish the reality and complexities of these two dimensions.

I argue that the state, agencies, families and au pairs themselves are implicated in crosscutting relationships of demand and power that make critical personal relationships based on reciprocity or hierarchy.