Au pair pocket money 2026: what do you actually pay?
The customary range is CHF 500 to 800 a month, depending on canton and hours. There is no statutory minimum as long as all au pair criteria are met. But your budget needs more than the pocket money: room and board count as a wage in kind of CHF 990, and once a year the compensation office sends its bill.
The customary range is CHF 500 to 800 pocket money a month; in Zurich most host families agree on about CHF 800. There is no statutory minimum as long as all au pair criteria are met (verified for Zurich and Ticino). But contributions run on pocket money plus room and board: CHF 1,790 a month.
- Pro Filia recommends CHF 600 to 700 net depending on the canton, plus room, board and the language course
- Room and board count as wage in kind: CHF 990 a month (AHVV Art. 11)
- At CHF 800 pocket money the au pair really costs you about CHF 942 a month; the contributions arrive as one annual bill of about CHF 4,460
This applies when
Applies to a genuine au pair arrangement: at most 30 hours a week, lives with you, language course, and a parent is at home for at least half of the working time.
Set your pocket money: net, real cost, annual bill
Your au pair keeps net
CHF 570.31 /month
after AHV, ALV, accident and 5 % withholding tax
It really costs you
CHF 942 /month
pocket money plus employer contributions; room, board and language course come on top
Annual compensation-office bill
CHF 4,460
all contributions, once a year, payable within 30 days. Set a twelfth aside each month.
Simplified procedure: one settlement a year, 5 % withholding tax, no occupational pension.
Example canton of Zurich, simplified procedure with VAVplus, room and board CHF 990 (AHVV Art. 11). Computed with the same rates as the Clino payslip.
Clino prepares the contract, the registration and every payslip with exactly these figures. You sign and send yourself.
How to register your au pairWhat is customary? The 2026 range
You will not find a statutory figure: the pocket money is agreed between you and your au pair. In practice a range of CHF 500 to 800 a month has established itself. In Zurich and other expensive regions most families sit at CHF 700 to 800; with shorter hours or in cheaper cantons rather below that.
Pro Filia, Switzerland's most established au pair organisation, recommends a net wage of CHF 600 to 700 for EU au pairs depending on the canton, plus room and board from the family and the language course, at least 120 hours a year.
And the minimum wage? An au pair is outside the cantonal minimum wages as long as all au pair criteria are met. That is documented in law in Ticino and Basel-Stadt, by the Tripartite Commission's fact sheet in Zurich, and by regulation in Neuchâtel. Geneva is the exception: it has its own minimum wage of CHF 24.59 per hour, households included.
CHF 500-600
Lower hours, cheaper cantons, very young au pairs. Well below CHF 500 it gets hard to find anyone at all.
CHF 600-700
The Pro Filia recommendation, net and depending on the canton. A solid middle for most regions.
CHF 700-800
Customary in Zurich and other expensive regions. CHF 800 is the amount we use in every example on this page.
Room and board count as wage: plus CHF 990 a month
For the AHV your au pair is an employee of your household, and the room and the meals are part of the wage. The AHV values full board and lodging at a flat CHF 33 a day, i.e. CHF 990 a month (AHVV Art. 11). So contributions are never calculated on the pocket money alone, but on pocket money plus wage in kind.
At CHF 800 pocket money that makes an AHV wage of CHF 1,790 a month, or CHF 21,480 a year. That stays under the CHF 22,680 ceiling, so everything runs in the simplified procedure: one annual bill, and the 5 % withholding tax settles the taxes.
The most common miscalculation
What gets deducted from the pocket money
The employee contributions come off the pocket money: AHV/IV/EO 5.3 %, ALV 1.1 %, non-occupational accident 1.432 % and 5 % withholding tax. They are calculated on the full AHV wage of CHF 1,790 but taken only from the cash wage. Of CHF 800, your au pair keeps CHF 570.31 net, under the simplified procedure with VAVplus.
In a private household you owe AHV from the first franc. The only exception, the CHF 750 a year allowance, applies to employees under 25 only, and with pocket money plus wage in kind an au pair is far above it anyway.
The office bills once a year
Honest maths
The pocket money is only half the truth.
Room, meals, language course and social contributions quickly turn CHF 800 of pocket money into double that in real costs. Knowing this upfront makes for a relaxed budget.
What comes with the pocket money
These items are part of the au pair model. Most are not cash, but all belong in the budget and in the contract.
Language course
A course in the local language, guide value 120 hours a year. In most cantons the host family pays the course or a fixed contribution; put your share in the contract.
Accident insurance (UVG)
Mandatory from the first working day and cannot be taken out retroactively. If the policy is missing, the Ersatzkasse UVG pays the benefits but bills you up to five years of substitute premiums, doubled if the omission is inexcusable (Art. 95 UVG).
Sick-pay insurance depending on the canton
In Zurich the standard employment contract for domestic work requires daily sickness benefits insurance (Art. 12); Ticino has no such duty. Check your canton before the first sick day arrives.
Health insurance
Your au pair takes out Swiss health insurance herself, within three months of taking up residence (KVG Art. 3). The European health insurance card is not enough.
Holidays
Five weeks a year until the age of 20, four after that (OR Art. 329a). Pocket money, room and board keep running during the holidays.
When the criteria tip, the price tips too
The 30 hours a week are all hours: evening babysitting and light housework count. And a parent must be at home for at least half of the working time. If one criterion falls away, it is legally no longer an au pair but a nanny.
Then the NAV wage applies: CHF 20.35 per hour, about CHF 2,646 a month at 30 hours instead of pocket money. The difference can be claimed back.
Above CHF 22,680 the procedure tips as well
Found your amount? Then only the registration is missing.
An au pair contract with pocket money, room and board as a wage component, the prepared registration with the compensation office, a payslip every month: Clino prepares everything, you sign and send yourself. What Clino does not do: sell insurance or handle the residence permit. CHF 19.90 a month, 30 days free.
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Frequently asked questions
How much pocket money is customary in 2026?
Is there a statutory minimum for the pocket money?
Do room and board really count as wage?
How much does my au pair keep net?
Do I have to pay for the language course?
What happens above 30 hours a week?
Sources
- AHVV Art. 11 and AHV leaflet 2.06: wage in kind, full board and lodging CHF 33 a day / CHF 990 a month.
- Fact sheet of the Tripartite Commission Zurich (au pair criteria, no minimum-wage requirement) and LSM Ticino Art. 3.
- Pro Filia: recommended net wage CHF 600 to 700 depending on the canton, language course at least 120 hours (profilia.ch, read August 2026).
- SECO / NAV domestic work: minimum wage unskilled CHF 20.35; NAV domestic work ZH Art. 12 (sick pay); CNL Ticino art. 19.
- OR Art. 329a (holidays), Art. 95 UVG (Ersatzkasse UVG), AHVG Art. 88 (fine).
Overview, not legal advice. 2026 rates; amounts are computed from the same data as in the Clino app.
