Au pair or aftercare? What the afternoon actually costs in South Africa

Every working parent of a school-age child in South Africa has done this sum. Here it is laid out plainly, with the trade-offs that the price alone doesn’t show.

The four options

School aftercare. Most primary schools run aftercare until 17:00 or 17:30. Homework is supervised in a group, there’s a snack, and children stay on familiar ground. Fees vary widely, from a few hundred rand a month at public schools to R1,500 to R3,000 at independent schools, per child. Sport and extramurals still need someone to get the child there and back if they’re off-site.

Holiday clubs. Day programmes during school holidays, usually R150 to R400 a day per child. They solve the holiday problem but not the term-time afternoon.

A nanny. Full-day, hands-on childcare, typically R5,000 to R9,000 a month for day hours depending on city and experience, more with live-in and more in the metros. The right answer for babies and toddlers; more than you need once children are at school all morning.

An au pair. Afternoons on school days, typically 20 to 25 hours a week: school run, sport, homework, snack, handover. R5,500 to R14,000 a month depending on city, driving and experience. See the pocket money guide for your area.

Putting numbers side by side

For a family with two children at an independent school in Johannesburg’s northern suburbs:

• Aftercare for two: roughly R3,000 to R6,000 a month, plus someone to do sport runs.
• Au pair who drives, 25 hours a week: roughly R9,000 to R12,000 a month plus fuel.
• Nanny, full day: roughly R7,000 to R10,000 a month, but no driving unless you find one who does.

For one child at a public school in Bloemfontein:

• Aftercare: a few hundred rand a month.
• Student au pair, 20 hours a week: roughly R5,500 to R7,500.

The au pair is rarely the cheapest option. It’s the option that covers the driving, the one-to-one homework, the flexibility, and the household running normally when you walk in.

What the price doesn’t show

• Transport. Aftercare is at school; sport, music and therapy usually aren’t. If your afternoons involve a car, an au pair or a driving nanny is doing a job aftercare can’t.
• Homework. Group supervision gets homework done. One-to-one gets it done well, particularly for a child who struggles or a family with more than one language at home.
• Sick days and early closures. Aftercare closes; an au pair can often start earlier.
• Holidays. Aftercare stops. An au pair can work full days if you’ve agreed it; a holiday club fills the gap otherwise. See school holidays and au pairs.
• Your own evening. Walking in at 18:00 to fed, bathed children with homework done is the reason many families move from aftercare to an au pair when a second child starts school.

Combinations that work

• Aftercare three days, au pair two days for sport.
• Domestic worker in the house, au pair from 13:00 for the children.
• Au pair in term, holiday club in the breaks.

Deciding

If your afternoons are mostly at school and the budget is tight, aftercare wins. If your afternoons involve a car, more than one child, or a child who needs a calm hour with an adult, an au pair pays for itself in the evenings you get back. Our guide on hiring an au pair walks through the rest.