World News for Students of English

09-06-2023 15:00

The UK government wants child care to be cheaper and encourage more women to work.

Before Brexit, au pairs were a good option. They offered cheap child care and help when needed. Also, young people could learn languages and experience different cultures. But Brexit affected the au pair industry. Some agencies say that the business went down by 95%. There are stricter rules for European citizens, so families have fewer options. Because nurseries are expensive, women work less to take care of their children.

Before Brexit, there were about 90,000 au pairs in the UK and many came from Europe. But now, only some people can be au pairs, like those with settled or pre-settled status or people from certain countries aged 18-30.

Difficult words: encourage (to give support or hope to someone), option (a thing that someone can choose), nursery (a place where young children and babies stay and someone looks after them while their parents are at work).

You can watch the original video in the Level 3 section.