We pay 20 hr for 3 kids (oldest in full time kindergarten). We live in a medium city and nanny is a family friend. We got a great deal because we were willing to be pretty flexible with her school schedule and she doesn’t do a lot of “extras” I hear about on here like cleaning, kids laundry etc. she is very sweet and the kids love her.

PP who was saying that uneducated mom raised educated sons, this may be true about mothers, not nannies who are not as motivated about your child. Many nannies indeed have degrees from their native countries which is still good for me since it shows their interest in learning. Someone with just high school imho does not have enough general knowledge for 21st century babies, LOL

Paid $25/ hour 10 years ago

Anonymous wrote:It cracks me up when parents look for "college educated" nannies but don't want to pay more.

Those of us with college educated nannies accept they are more expensive.

It cracks me up when parents look for "college educated" nannies but don't want to pay more.

Anonymous wrote:It's crazy to me that I see people saying DCPS aides should be happy with 18/hr but 30/hr to watch 1 or 2 kids is ok for a Nanny. BTW, I think it is - and I think Aides should be paid more.

I was a special ed para in a DC area school division. I started at about $16 an hr almost 20 years ago, negotiated due to my having a bachelors degree. I retired a few years ago at $32 hr. With a pension. And retiree health insurance. While I worked I had 9-10 weeks off every summer, a week or two at winter and spring breaks, many holidays, great health insurance, sick leave, life insurance and job security. I loved my job, was very good at it, and was appreciated by students, teachers, parents and my school division. I have a lot of respect for nannies, but I would take my job over their job any day. It was quite difficult at times but mostly also quite rewarding even while challenging.

Not all "aides" can command that kind of pay but that's partly because they don't stay long enough. Usually they are on a path to somewhere else, which is fine. Also, the para or aide position is often underpaid because it is filled by young people with little experience or education or it is filled by people who aren't supporting themselves or their families but are instead supplementing their spouse's income. That shouldn't be a factor, but it is.

I was supporting myself on my para salary which wasn't always easy in the DC area but I made it work because I loved my job and did not want to be a teacher even though I could have been.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's crazy to me that I see people saying DCPS aides should be happy with 18/hr but 30/hr to watch 1 or 2 kids is ok for a Nanny. BTW, I think it is - and I think Aides should be paid more.

I was an aide in DCPS for 7 months. It was the hardest job I've ever had. I will never go back but I'll think about being a nanny because they get paid a lot more for less work.

Not a rhetorical question: Do DCPS aides received health benefits? Retirement? I wonder if the pay disparity represents the benefits a DCPS aide would receive that a nanny (most of the time) would not. That, plus the long-term job stability, would be benefits of being a DCPS employee versus a nanny. No dog in this fight, just curious.

They're not at the mercy of one family. They have cameras to protect them. They have breaks, lunches and shorter days.

If you're talking apples to apples, compare a sn aide to a sn nanny... The sn nanny is full charge, but the aide is not.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's crazy to me that I see people saying DCPS aides should be happy with 18/hr but 30/hr to watch 1 or 2 kids is ok for a Nanny. BTW, I think it is - and I think Aides should be paid more.

I was an aide in DCPS for 7 months. It was the hardest job I've ever had. I will never go back but I'll think about being a nanny because they get paid a lot more for less work.

Not a rhetorical question: Do DCPS aides received health benefits? Retirement? I wonder if the pay disparity represents the benefits a DCPS aide would receive that a nanny (most of the time) would not. That, plus the long-term job stability, would be benefits of being a DCPS employee versus a nanny. No dog in this fight, just curious.

Anonymous wrote:It's crazy to me that I see people saying DCPS aides should be happy with 18/hr but 30/hr to watch 1 or 2 kids is ok for a Nanny. BTW, I think it is - and I think Aides should be paid more.

I was an aide in DCPS for 7 months. It was the hardest job I've ever had. I will never go back but I'll think about being a nanny because they get paid a lot more for less work.

It's crazy to me that I see people saying DCPS aides should be happy with 18/hr but 30/hr to watch 1 or 2 kids is ok for a Nanny. BTW, I think it is - and I think Aides should be paid more.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would someone with a college degree be a nanny?

Because it’s a great job when you work for smart, loving parents. I’ve done many other professions with my degree but none as satisfying as teaching and loving children. I’ve never looked forward to Mondays until I became a nanny.

You must not be a parent, PP. The first five years of a child’s life are nothing short of miraculous.

I totally agree with you. I'm wondering, if you had your own child would you hire a great nanny to take care of them or would you plan for and find a way to be home with your own child until they started school full time? I say this as a parent who did whatever was necessary to be able to be home with my kids before they started full time school because it was so important to me to be their primary influence at that time of their lives and to enjoy being with them full time myself. It was difficult financially but totally worth it to me. What are your thoughts on that?

Not everyone is so egotistical as to think that the mother needs to be the primary/sole influence on a child’s life. Many of us come from more communal societies where mom, dad, grandparents, aunts and uncles, paid caregivers all do different aspects of child rearing. Which they can’t do if a navel-gazing SAHM usurps all of the child’s time and insists on everything being done her way.

Your post sounds like a case of sour grapes. I agree with the poster who wanted to stay with her kid. However, I acknowledge that this is a class thing too. In DMV, most of the times the person who can SAH belongs to a high HHI household.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would someone with a college degree be a nanny?

Because it’s a great job when you work for smart, loving parents. I’ve done many other professions with my degree but none as satisfying as teaching and loving children. I’ve never looked forward to Mondays until I became a nanny.

You must not be a parent, PP. The first five years of a child’s life are nothing short of miraculous.

I totally agree with you. I'm wondering, if you had your own child would you hire a great nanny to take care of them or would you plan for and find a way to be home with your own child until they started school full time? I say this as a parent who did whatever was necessary to be able to be home with my kids before they started full time school because it was so important to me to be their primary influence at that time of their lives and to enjoy being with them full time myself. It was difficult financially but totally worth it to me. What are your thoughts on that?

Not everyone is so egotistical as to think that the mother needs to be the primary/sole influence on a child’s life. Many of us come from more communal societies where mom, dad, grandparents, aunts and uncles, paid caregivers all do different aspects of child rearing. Which they can’t do if a navel-gazing SAHM usurps all of the child’s time and insists on everything being done her way.

Anonymous wrote:I only would hire college educated nanny with 7-10 yrs of experience. The truth is, her college degree would be not from US college and that is totally fine. The reason I do not consider non-educated nannies is mostly that I like to see very good manners, her to be nearly perfect role model, read a lot, and be someone who has thirst for knowledge that she can inject into my child from early age. Preferably someone who has her won kid with college degree as well. Someone who never saw college as their goal is just not the person I would want my kids to be with 10 hrs a day 5 days a week.

PP, you better sit down for this. It is more than likely your grandmother did not go to college. Depending on how old you are, your mother may not have attended college. So here were these uneducated women raising females who now outnumber males pursuing college degrees. PEOPLE WHO NEVER SAW COLLEGE AS THEIR GOAL! Can you imagine?

That’s what we pay and our nanny is amazing.

Nanny here. I got my BA in ECE in 2008 and have been nannying since for 4 families over the years. Here's my hustory-

2008 $15hr one child
2010 $18hr once child
2015 $25hr two children
2022 $32hr two children