France: Au Pair Rules
France separates two statuses. A non-European who comes to improve their French is a “jeune au pair”; a European who comes as part of their studies is a “stagiaire aide familial étranger”, with different hours and pocket money. Both are set out by the French administration on Service-Public.
As of · sources last checked 17 Sep 2026
The rules
- Hours (jeune au pair)
The maximum weekly time devoted to the family’s tasks is 25 hours a week.
- Time off
At least one complete rest day a week.
- Pocket money (jeune au pair)
A minimum of €320 a month.
- Age
18 to 30 years old for a jeune au pair; 17 to 30 for a stagiaire aide familial étranger.
- Length of stay
Three months to one year, extendable to a maximum of two years.
- French
A jeune au pair has to show basic knowledge of French; a stagiaire aide familial étranger enrols in French courses for foreigners.
- Visa and agreement
A long-stay visa marked “jeune au pair”, to be validated within three months of arrival. The agreement between the young person and the host family has to be signed before they leave their home country.
- European status (stagiaire aide familial étranger)
Working time is a maximum of five hours a day, with one complete rest day a week of which at least one Sunday a month. Pocket money is generally between €326.25 and €391.50.
France: check a month against the minimum
The calculator opens on an example month for France. Move the sliders to your own arrangement — it checks what you enter against the minimum this page cites.
Au pair stipend calculator · France
Example monthsourceMinimum in France: €320 a month · Service-Public, verified 1 June 2026
France: not more than 25 h a week
This month you pay
€370
€10 above the minimum
- Pocket money
- €330
- Extra babysitting, 0 h × €10
- €0
- Transport
- €40
- Per hour of regular child care, at 25 h a week
- €3.05
- A full 12-month stay, without extra hours
- €4,440
What we could not verify
These figures are missing on purpose. We found no official source stating them, and an estimate on a page about rules is worse than a gap.
- Insurance costs and agency fees. Service-Public sets out the status, not the market prices.
Sources
- Stagiaire aide familial étranger et jeune au pairService-Public.fr (Direction de l’information légale et administrative) · vérifié le 1 juin 2026 · checked 17 Sep 2026
This page is a summary of published rules, not legal advice. Rules change, and an authority can read its own rules differently in an individual case. Check the linked source, and ask your agency or the responsible authority before you sign.
Other countries
United States (J-1)
Federal exchange-visitor rules: 45 hours a week, 1½ days off, education requirement, sponsor and DS-2019.
Germany
30 hours a week, €280 pocket money a month, €840 towards a German course, six to twelve months.
Netherlands
30 hours a week, 8 hours a day, two days off, one year maximum, recognised agency only.
Austria
16.5 hours a week including on-call time, at least €551.10 a month, notified to the AMS in advance.
United Kingdom
No au pair scheme: an au pair is an employee entitled to the National Minimum Wage.
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