Abstract
This chapter examines the different experiences of citizenship of au pairs in the UK who all ostensibly have equal citizenship rights as European Union (EU) nationals. The chapter shows how deregulation of the au pair sector since 2008 has allowed a hierarchy of au pairs to develop with only those from the most prosperous states able to access the most ‘au pair-like’ conditions. Nationals of new EU member states and those who face low pay or high unemployment at home are more likely to accept ‘work-like’ conditions without opportunities for cultural exchange. Between them the prejudices and preferences of host families, UK migration rules and the very different opportunities available to au pairs in their home countries work to produce a gap between the putative equality of formal EU citizenship, which is shared by all, and the practical and lived experience of citizenship as migrants in the UK.
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Notes
- 1.
In 2000, before the scheme was expanded, these countries were Andora, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Croatia, Cyprus. the Czech Republic, the Faeroes, Greenland, Hungary, Lichtenstein, Macedonia, Malta, Monaco, San Marino, Slovak Republic, Slovenia. Switzerland and Turkey.
- 2.
All names are pseudonyms. Pseudonyms were attributed to participants from a list generated by the researchers. The first person interviewed has the first name in alphabetical order and the second the second and so on. The names do not in any way reflect the place of origin of the interviewees nor any other characteristic such as social class or age. Only gender has been accounted for.
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Cox, R., Busch, N. (2016). Gendered Work and Citizenship: Diverse Experiences of Au Pairing in the UK. In: Gullikstad, B., Kristensen, G., Ringrose, P. (eds) Paid Migrant Domestic Labour in a Changing Europe. Citizenship, Gender and Diversity. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51742-5_5
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