Nannies and Au Pairs Branch

We are over 100,000 workers spread across the country, representing 15% of the workforce responsible for caring for children. Despite performing essential work for society, enabling thousands of parents to attend work each day, we have been historically ignored and excluded from government regulation and working rights.

We are not protected by weekly working hour restrictions or health and safety inspections. Until recently, our employers did not have to contribute to our pensions or pay us the minimum wage. It's time to change this situation.

During the pandemic, while schools and nurseries were closed, we had to put our health at risk to continue working, even without PPE or the ability to maintain social distancing. During this period, many of us whose accommodation was tied to our jobs lost everything. With most of us with no access to public funds due to our migration status, we came together to create a community, helping each other and building collective power.

As a way to fight for better working conditions, we established the first union for nannies. Since then, we have collectively worked on numerous cases where employers failed to meet their obligations, and we have succeeded in campaigning for the minimum wage for au pairs.

Together, we are stronger and committed to improving our working conditions and rights. It is time for nannies and au pairs to start building the sector they want to see.

Join us

• If you are a nanny or an au pair, join the IWGB Nannies and Au Pairs Branch.
• Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.
• Donate to the solidarity fund on the Nanny Solidarity Network website.
  

Media

• May 2020: The ‘radical nannies’ Organising to Support Each Other Through Covid-19
• December 2021: Is excluding au pairs from the minimum wage still the right thing to do?
• March 2022: How we won: the live-in nannies who fought against £1 an hour pay