Nanny Prices!
![[Post New]](/nanny-forum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
Dear Poster, What I'm reading is that you want and need a nanny, but you resent having to pay market rate for a nanny, either because you actually can only afford daycare, or because you believe nannies aren't worth very much money becaus their jobs are easy. The issue is that you want individualized attention. That costs money. If your child has special needs, that costs even more money. Anyone who employs a nanny needs to understand a very basic fact: You must pay an actual living wage that allows the nanny to live in a safe neighborhood, pay all her bills, and live comfortably. No, not extravagantly, comfortably. A wage that makes her able to purchase all she needs and some things she wants. Try this little exercise: 1) Determine your childcare budget. 2) Do some research and find out the following information: a) What is the monthly NET wage you can afford to pay? b) What does it cost to rent a 2B/2b apartment within 30 rush hour minutes distance of your home? c) What does the average apartment described above cost for all utilities, including cable and internet? d) How much is insurance for a renter with a car, and how much does health insurance cost per year? e) If you were single, how much would you spend on groceries, medical needs, self-care, clothing, gas and car maintenance, occasional meals out, and one decent vacation a year, plus saving 5-10% of your net income toward retirement and a few minor indulgences every year? 3) Add up all the expenses in #2 and add 10% for things you overlooked. Is that dollar amount slightly less than your yearly childcare budget plus 30% to cover the actual GROSS wages plus your employer costs? 4) If the answer to #3 is yes, then you can probably afford to support a 3rd adult off of your HHI. Congratulations, you should look for a nanny! 5) If the answer to #3 is no, then you cannot afford a nanny. Look for daycare openings near you. No one has the right to demand nanny care when all they can afford is daycare. Let me say it a different way...A nanny is not obligated in any way to give you a childcare discount that makes HER financial life difficult or impossible. Lose your privileged attitude and be realistic about your finances. |
Anonymous
So you have a babysitter that you have to micromanage with "a solid curriculum". I'm guessing you were cared for by a babysitter your parents called nanny as well, since you are not able to do basic math? Your claim that you pay 1/3 the cost of a $27/hour nanny, followed by your comment about your $15/hour nanny makes your lack of skills laughably obvious. If your son is being cared for by a sitter who thinks, as you do, that 27*1/3=15, he won't be flying circles around many of his peers. P.S. You spend 5/9ths of what the employer who pays $27/hour. If you paid 3x less than that employer, you would be paying your babysitter $9/hour. You're welcome. |
Anonymous
Actually, 1/3 is $9, 1/3 less is $18. |
Anonymous
Um, nope, most grad students are not attending online. And between attending classes and doing homework? They can’t/won’t work 45+ hours. |
Anonymous
Poster: Making 15.00 an hour IS a living wage, albeit not a comfortable one! You are correct I do expect a Nanny at a Fair Market Price. I am judging fair market price by the countless jobs that pay 13.00 (which is minimum wage now) that is literate. |
Anonymous
|
Sadly all the points are made.
1. Nannies here make people believe that their pay should be 'livable' which means it is above minimum wage. However, many daycare employees, that perform almost identical jobs make minimum wage and do the same amount and type of work. That nannies on this board somehow feel they deserve more because the clientele they are catering to can afford it. 2. The nanny profession is not accredited, does not have any type of board certification or any real legal governance requirement. The reason is simple, the work they are performing is what typical mothers or babysitters would perform. The only difference I could find is that a Nanny may have a prior routine she performs for a child, WHILE a babysitter seeks guidance from a parent regarding routines. Routines include activities, songs to sing (i am a little tea-pot), and other methods of entertainment. Let me be honest and blunt, even a BARBER gets an accredited certificate and LICENSE to cut hair! Did you know a DAYCARE has more requirements than a NANNY (there are none <--). Want to know why? The reason is simple, the state considers their care in the same field as a BABYSITTER!!! 3. Want to know what scares a nanny the most! The fear of their job being outsourced to an illegal. BTW. Not all illegals are uneducated. Many of them come from poor countries but have more college experience than many of the nannies here, who may have gone to community college, or received some pay-for-profit nonaccredited certificate. |
Anonymous
We heard you. Now please stop repeating yourself. I do not agree with you. |
Anonymous
#2 is Factually correct Let us discuss how you try to quantify your blue collar job beyond that of a babysitter, who is provided a list of items to perform. |
Anonymous
Feel free to seek a nanny among those minimum wage earners. If you get really lucky you may get find someone who likes kids, is literate, and is capable of following your daily explicit directions. If you're not lucky, your kid will watch TV all day, eat mostly junk food, and get smacked if they want any attention. If your luck really sucks, you'll get a call from the cops that your kid was found wandering the streets or that your kid is dead. |
Anonymous
Either way, still not $15, right? |
Anonymous
1) Feel free to create a Nanny Accreditation Test/Certificate/Degree. Parents DGAF, unless they want to argue how nanny wages should be really low because "anyone can be a nanny". 2) Why I am not considered a babysitter: I don't need to be given daily lists. I don't feed kids and put them to bed for the night so I can feed my face and play on my phone for 4 hours on a Saturday night. Instead, I show up 5 days a week, 10-12 hours a day, and help you raise your child. I advise you on behavior issues, suggest it's time to consider making changes in schedules, lead you and your child through potty training, help your child navigate friend troubles, help with homework, plan menus and cook balanced meals and snacks, coordinate activity schedules for multiple kids, plan out free play as well as learning activities for each day, change diapers, soothe hysterical toddlers or teens, and generally give my all to the task of guiding your children on the path to becoming genuinely good people. I do all of this as your partner, and I support and enforce the parenting decisions you make. I also love your kids, even when their behavior stinks to the point that YOU don't want them around. I also sing a damn good rendition of "I'm a Little Teapot", read the same book to your toddler 20 times a day, play cars/dolls/pretend for hours while following your child's directives and teaching them to take turns being in charge. I do art with your kids that focuses on progress, not perfection, and I help them make gifts for you when it's your birthday or another holiday. I help them learn how to handle being angry/sad/out of control in positive ways, and I listen to them when they talk and give actual thoughtful responses. I listen to you when you are overwhelmed or when you question if you are parenting "right", and offer you reassurance as well. No one forces you to hire a nanny who is worth $20/hour or more. Hire whoever you choose to hire, and accept that your children will be influenced by that person's attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. |
Anonymous
| Everyone, stop feeding the troll! |
Anonymous
Actually, let’s discuss your arrogance, entitlement and privilege of thinking you deserve a nanny for a cheap rate. Let’s discuss why ppl like you think a nanny should lower their standards to accommodate you. Your job offer is subpar and the people you need to direct your anger at are the ppl who can actually afford to offer nannies competitive packages. Continue to be upset that not only does an excellent nanny get to pick and chose their job but families will literally offer them the moon to secure them. Be even more upset that your ideas of a nanny are no longer like the nannies from shows like The Nanny or Alice from The Brady Bunch. For someone who praises daycare it’s very odd that it isn’t your childcare option. You need to make that your childcare option as you resent your nanny. Your unsubstantiated claim that nannies try to scare families into paying more is laughable. Nannies don’t have to scare families, the news does that. Plenty of stories of illegal/subpar nannies who harm/kill children and then flee back to their counties/go to jail. Common sense tells you what can happen when a person is overworked and underpaid. |
Anonymous
But it’s so much fun as I roll around on my employers money, on my paid days off. |
Anonymous
|
Should everyone make enough money at a full time job to live close to their work, have health insurance, a vehicle, and not worry about paying for food and basic utilities (including internet and cell phone)? Yes, I believe they should.
Should everyone make enough to single-handedly provide those things for themselves plus dependents? That's a harder question. What seems to come up on this board over and over, though, is that nannies want to be seen as equals with their employers both as professionals and in socio-economic class. That makes sense since they work with them so intimately, and the disparities can be depressing. When yo work in an office, your boss's vacation home, Lexus, kids in private, lack of money worries, and more flexible schedule bother you less, because you can see a path to get there yourself, however fictitious that path may be in reality. There is an argument to make that no one should earn more than they need, and that ethics would dictate providing a comfortable life for your employees, especially if you have one yourself. But there's also something weird in demanding that of working parents, but not, say, the owners of Marriott hotels. |