Every April the statutory minimum wage changes, and every year websites keep quoting last year's figures for months. This guide is the companion to our cost calculator: the current numbers, the accommodation offset explained, and worked examples you can check against your own arithmetic. It is reviewed every year when the new rates take effect.
The rates from 1 April 2026
- Aged 21 and over (National Living Wage): £12.71 an hour
- Aged 18–20: £10.85 an hour
- Accommodation offset: £11.10 a day, which is £77.70 a week
These are the statutory floors. Experienced au pairs and nannies — advanced au pairs and career nannies — are paid above them, and are worth it.
The accommodation offset, explained
When you provide a live-in au pair or nanny with accommodation, the law allows a fixed daily amount to count towards their pay. In practice, for a live-in au pair you calculate the week like this:
Hourly rate × weekly hours, minus £77.70.
The offset is fixed by statute. It is not "rent", it doesn't vary with the size of the room, and it cannot exceed £11.10 per day counted. Meals, by long convention and our expectation, are simply part of hosting and are not charged against pay.
Worked examples at 30 hours a week
- Au pair or nanny aged 21 or over: 30 × £12.71 = £381.30, less £77.70 offset = £303.60 a week
- Au pair or nanny aged 18–20: 30 × £10.85 = £325.50, less £77.70 offset = £247.80 a week
For your own hours, the cost calculator on our costs page does the sums live — it reads from the same rates table as this guide, so the two can never disagree.
The details families forget
- Babysitting beyond agreed hours is paid extra, at minimum-wage rates or better. Agree the pattern up front; write it into the contract.
- Birthdays change the rate. An au pair or nanny who turns 21 mid-placement moves onto the higher rate from their birthday.
- Hours mean worked hours. An evening where the children are asleep and the au pair or nanny is on duty is still working time; a shared family dinner is not. Common sense and a clear contract prevent every argument we've ever seen on this subject.
- Live-out care is different arithmetic: an hourly rate, typically £20–£30 in London, with no offset because no accommodation is provided.
Why we publish this
An agency that helps set pay has no business being vague about the law that governs it. Every placement we prepare states the hours, the weekly amount and the offset in writing before anyone commits — so the au pair or nanny knows what they'll receive, and you know what it costs, from the first conversation to the signed contract.
Statutory rates current from 1 April 2026; this guide is updated each April when new rates take effect.