Cultural encounters and cheap labor: An interrogation of the Danish au pair scheme

Abstract: The present paper interrogates the Danish au pair scheme’s legitimacy as a cultural exchange program. The paper will introduce the theory of a segmented labor market and situate the au pair scheme within an empirical context of a global demand for migrant domestic labor. This will demonstrate that the Danish au pair scheme has not only become a loophole to answer the demands for an unprotected labor force of domestic workers, but actually creates the vulnerable and docile workers inherently needed in the Danish economy. This suggests that the core purpose of the Danish au pair scheme is not a cultural exchange but could be understood as a migrant domestic workers program.