Budget for nanny starting September

[Anonymous]

It was basically my salary we were paying her. But I don't have a career I can take a break from, so in the long term this was better but not cheaper than quitting. Nannies don't make financial sense until you have 2 or 3 kids - daycare for multiple kids costs about what a nanny costs.

[Anonymous]

This is why au pairs are so popular. $ vs $$$

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is why au pairs are so popular. $ vs $$$

Or nanny shares. We have three kids and I very purposefully spaced my new baby - our third - out by four years so that both of the older two would be in school full time by the time he needed childcare so we could just do one nanny share. As an alternative, we were contemplating an au pair if for some reason we ended up needing more help with the other two. Then this pandemic happened and schools are distant and au pairs are canceled by Trump’s EO. So our hand was forced for a nanny, which for three kids is going to cost a small fortune and much more than the numbers listed in this chain. Luckily we have the savings to make it work for this temporary situation, but it’s a shame we need to go there. But like pp, the career hit would be devastating if either of us took a year off....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Omg... this is op, I am not sure if I can afford $20/hr, $30/overtime hr plus benefits & taxes. That costs more than my after taxes monthly salary. That is $4700 monthly base salary plus benefits/taxes for taking care of my 4 year old. Is that how much what everyone is paying?

It adds up quick OP. that isn't even taking into account taxes and hidden costs. I paid my nanny (not in DC, much lower COL) $18 an hour at 45 hours a week (she was contracted and treated as salaried and the agreement was for $18 for all those hours so we had a complicated equation for calculating the 5 hours a week at time and a half so it all equaled out to that). She cost us about $3750 a month when payroll stuff was also factored in.

[Anonymous]

I just hired a nanny and spent a very long time until I found one I liked. The range I saw of available nannies for my one child went to as low as $18, depending on level of background experience. We are paying a higher rate and doing everything on the books (but, yes, i'm very thankful we are able to do this)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It was basically my salary we were paying her. But I don't have a career I can take a break from, so in the long term this was better but not cheaper than quitting. Nannies don't make financial sense until you have 2 or 3 kids - daycare for multiple kids costs about what a nanny costs.

yeah but the financial calculations are out the windows for a lot of people right now. we don't have a daycare option

[Anonymous]

We pay $20/hour with unlimited sick leave and 3 weeks vacation (which includes 1 week chosen by us). We’ve never had to do overtime even before Covid WFH.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are looking into nanny starting September for 4 year old. How much does it cost monthly to hire one Monday to Friday 7am to 5:30pm? Do I have to give medical/sick/holiday benefits, pay payroll taxes or could I pay them only in cash? We are looking for about long term, like 1 year.

How much do you pay yours? I want to use it as a ballpark for my budget expectation. DD is really energetic, so I will be looking for an energetic nanny that burns her energy out physically in the basement/backyard, and do some quiet activities with her. She will have some weekly zoom classes/virtual tutor that I sign her up, so the nanny needs to supervise as well. She is reading at 1st grade level, so nanny needs to help her with reading?

If I do nannyshare with another family, would that be a lot cheaper like half the price?

I wouldn't do it for any amount of money but you can find someone illegal.

[Anonymous]

We pay our nanny $26 an hour for one child. She’s great and keeps DS engaged, active and learning.

I’m so glad we’ve always had a nanny because now they are in such high demand the nanny could get $30 an hour easily.

[Anonymous]

A properly paid nanny is a luxury for most people, OP.

[Anonymous]

We pay 20/hour with guaranteed OT. Unlimited sick and she picks one week vacation and she gets the other three weeks we take paid. Essentially we pay her the same base rate every week now matter how much she works. We pay more overtime if we have need hours outside of her base hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Omg... this is op, I am not sure if I can afford $20/hr, $30/overtime hr plus benefits & taxes. That costs more than my after taxes monthly salary. That is $4700 monthly base salary plus benefits/taxes for taking care of my 4 year old. Is that how much what everyone is paying?

You cannot afford a nanny. You would have to pay 12.5 OT hours a week.Yes, you must pay FICA and taxes. Maybe you should just stay home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Omg... this is op, I am not sure if I can afford $20/hr, $30/overtime hr plus benefits & taxes. That costs more than my after taxes monthly salary. That is $4700 monthly base salary plus benefits/taxes for taking care of my 4 year old. Is that how much what everyone is paying?

You cannot afford a nanny. You would have to pay 12.5 OT hours a week.Yes, you must pay FICA and taxes. Maybe you should just stay home.

Can you dip into savings, stop all contributions to retirement and college accounts, etc? Remember, this is short term, you’ll have time to fix it.

If not, you have three options: stay home and hope you can get your position (or a similar) back without career accomplishments and the ability to move forward, find a nanny share and understand that the nanny will do minimal personalized activities (you can’t afford a nanny who will do different curricula for each child, so your preschool daughter will need to read to you mornings, evenings and weekends, if you want to continue to her progress right now), or look for a daycare/preschool which will adequately social distance and still provide the good things inherent in group care.

This isn’t a choice we can make for you. We understand it’s a difficult choice, as it is for so many people right now. Just remember that this is short term, and try to pick the choice of that has the best outcome for your daughter while being something you can afford, even if stretching is necessary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At least $20/hr for the first 40 hours plus $30/hr for each hour over 40hrs so at least $1,175/week As her base. Then keep in mind that you need to pay employer taxes and unemployment on top of that, which will be at least $90/week.

Yes, you should give all federal holidays paid as well as two weeks vacation as market. Also market would be at least 4-5 days paid sick leave, though you should provide the possibility of additional days given the climate

A minimum of 10.5 hours a day and probably 11 as OP Will likely be late most of the time. That's 52.5 + hours a week. Too much

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At least $20/hr for the first 40 hours plus $30/hr for each hour over 40hrs so at least $1,175/week As her base. Then keep in mind that you need to pay employer taxes and unemployment on top of that, which will be at least $90/week.

Yes, you should give all federal holidays paid as well as two weeks vacation as market. Also market would be at least 4-5 days paid sick leave, though you should provide the possibility of additional days given the climate

This is the right ballpark. Nannies are in high demand right now, so this is your baseline expectation. There's a lot of concern in the nanny community about what happens if they have to quarantine (at the request of the family they work for, or mandated by the government), and what happens if they get covid and need to miss work (the more generous you can be, the better, and they'll expect it in writing). They want to be paid on the books so that they can collect unemployment and take advantage of the coronavirus top-up benefits that may be in play if they lose their job.

I am searching for a nanny now. All of this is correct. The market is tough right now and you will need to pay a premium. The