III. MATERIALES Y MÉTODOS
3.2 Parámetros Evaluados
“Au pair” placement is the temporary reception by families, in exchange for certain services, of young foreigners who come to improve their linguistic and possibly pro- fessional knowledge as well as their general culture by acquiring a better knowledge of the country where they are received.
Extract from Article 2 (1) of the European Agreement on “au pair” Placement
Norway has signed the European Agreement on “au pair” Placement which was rati- fied by the Council of Europe in Strasbourg in 1969. The purpose of the agreement was to attempt “to settle a problem of ever-increasing magnitude, as the number of young persons going abroad to improve their knowledge of languages has risen con- stantly since the end of the Second World War”.5 Au pair placement is defined in the
agreement as cultural exchange, whereby a young adult gets the opportunity to learn another language and culture through being included as a member of the family in the host country. In compensation she or he is expected to do light housework and help with childcare.
In the aftermath of the Second World War both the immobility and mobility of youth was thus defined as a social problem demanding international regulation, and au pair placement was thought of as one possible remedy. Young people had little money and by living in someone else’s household as a family member, they would be able to live abroad without large investments. It was believed that living with a family would offer protection for young people living away from their parents. ‘Au pair’ literally means “equal to” or “on a par” and was to indicate that the au pair should not be treated as a
domestic worker, but as a family member.
Furthermore, an inherent principle in the agreement is that cultural exchange can prevent intolerance between European citizens: as early as 1969 it was acknowledged that “’au pair placement’ constitutes in the Member States an important social prob- lem with legal, moral, cultural and economic implications, which transcends national boundaries and thereby takes on a European complexion”. It was also recognised at the time that au pair placement would need regulation in a way that only national authorities could offer. It thus appears that the agreement was intended to regulate the situation of young adults who did domestic work so that they could benefit from their period of placement.
The current character of youth migration in Western Europe has radically changed the context for the au pair placement, relative to that which was sought to be regulated by the agreement. In the 40 years that have passed, much has changed in European societies in terms of gender roles and equality, regulation of labour and not least when it comes to (inter)national migration flows. Family structure and the ethnic composi- tion of European countries have changed radically, but the European Agreement on “au pair” Placement, however, has not been substantially amended to incorporate the reality of the societal changes that have taken place since 1969. An important change that has occurred since 1969 is the transformations of patterns of youth mobility – whether it is in the form of travel for leisure, or migration for work, education or as a consequence of transnational relationships. Au pair placement was regulated according
5 As earlier noted, all quotes from the European Agreement are taken from: http://conventions.coe.int/
to the conditions governing youth’s opportunities for physical and socio-economic mobility in the period after World War II. Since then European youth and young adults have experienced changing conditions for their mobility, depending on the region they were living in.
The 2004 expansion of the EU is a good example of how increased mobility for some groups (like Polish and Romanian nationals) means that barriers are raised for other groups. The current immigration control of the external borders of the EU/ EEA area produces “involuntary immobility” (cf. Carling 2002) for migrants who come from third or non-EU/EEA countries, but who would like to live and work in Europe. The au pair scheme has become one of the few possibilities that, for instance, Ukrainians, Russians and Filipinos have for entering Norway. The gendered nature of the scheme, as by and large a migration pathway for young women, also demonstrates how men and women have dissimilar opportunities for migration. They therefore have to use different strategies to succeed if they want to move to Norway. For Eastern European men, work in construction has been one of few opportunities to obtain work in other countries, for female migrants from third countries domestic and care work have become important niches in the global labour market (cf. Anderson 2000; Cox 2006; Gavanas 2006; Isaksen 2001; Parreñas 2001a).
Researchers, activists and politicians today are questioning whether the original intentions of the agreement have any relevance or can even be defended in a time when migrant domestic workers – legal or undocumented, au pairs or otherwise – have come to represent a new global underclass who have few or no rights in host countries (Anderson 2006; Hess and Puckhaber 2004; Hondagneu-Sotelo 2007; Parreñas 2008; Sollund 2009b). The last few years have seen a significant increase in au pairs and migrant domestic workers in many European countries, and au pair placement is at present enmeshed in global discourses on immigration, and domestic and care work.