NYT Article on Nanny Compensation

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I will never understand this desire of working mothers on this board to pay the person you want to love and care for your child as little as possible. Would you be okay with similar working conditions for your daughter/sister/mother? When you hire a nanny, the wage you pay is more than your childcare costs. Its how someone pays their bills and feeds their children. I know you all say it isn't your job to worry about these things but its the reality. What you pay your nanny is what you are asking her to live on in exchange for caring for your baby day after day.

Plenty of people make less than $10 an hour and they aren't complaining that their bosses make more than they do. Yes, it is a low wage and yes, lifestyle is not very good at that rate. It seems really commonplace that nannies think they deserve to live in the same lifestyle of the employer's family, probably because they see and observe it every day and think they deserve (not want, but deserve) part of it because they are watching the family's kids.

Why don't you get job training for a different profession? A profession that not anyone can get into, like nannying? A profession that requires a skill? Perhaps a college degree in a marketable field if you don't have one? Then yes, you will deserve to make something more than slightly above minimum wage. Don't blame the rest of us who went out there and did the work and built a family after years of hard work and sacrifice to career for not bringing the bacon to you.

Making 40-50k a year with limited benefits and no job security is hardly living the lifestyle of someone making 100k. Some nannies are actually well educated and could be teachers but enjoy one on one with children. They do more then wipe your kids ass. To say I'm selfish because I want to make a livable wage that doesn't involve me working a second job is crazy. You obviously never truly struggled in your life to be say such a thing and have no idea the value of a great educator. Sure you can pay any hobo off the street to help raise your children but don't expect someone with experience and an education to work for dirt. If a warm body is all you need then good for you but even here in Boston illegals make $15.

I'm not saying you are stupid or selfish for wanting more. Well, I am saying that you are because you want your MB/DB to give it to you. MB/DB will only give you want is appropriate based on the market. You need to find another profession if you want to make more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Making 40-50k a year with limited benefits and no job security is hardly living the lifestyle of someone making 100k. Some nannies are actually well educated and could be teachers but enjoy one on one with children. They do more then wipe your kids ass. To say I'm selfish because I want to make a livable wage that doesn't involve me working a second job is crazy. You obviously never truly struggled in your life to be say such a thing and have no idea the value of a great educator. Sure you can pay any hobo off the street to help raise your children but don't expect someone with experience and an education to work for dirt. If a warm body is all you need then good for you but even here in Boston illegals make $15.

I haven't struggled financially but I have worked my butt off at school, and at work going beyond what is expected of me and doing work that I don't like so I can provide for my family and have stability. You CHOSE to be a nanny because you ENJOY working one on one with kids. Sorry kid. I enjoy making four course meals and going to movies. If I tried to become a cook or work in hollywood, I would not make what I do. What you are saying really tells me you only want to do what you enjoy doing and not work hard but still live well. Life doesn't work that way.

[Anonymous]

There are some cold parents on this board....its really sad. I hope you all raise more compassionate, less selfish, and less money driven people than yourselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are some cold parents on this board....its really sad. I hope you all raise more compassionate, less selfish, and less money driven people than yourselves.

Lazy, entitled, argumentative nannies on this board bring out the best in us parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are some cold parents on this board....its really sad. I hope you all raise more compassionate, less selfish, and less money driven people than yourselves.

Lazy, entitled, argumentative nannies on this board bring out the best in us parents.

Its a discussion board. Key word being discussion. We're allowed to disagree and it doesn't make us argumentative. Yeah some of the nannies here are entitled, as are many of the parents. Everyone thinks they deserve something. I think we can all agree that everyone is entitled to a living wage. Not everyone is entitled to a nanny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Employment and salary is based on a market of supply and demand. People who have money try to pay the least to get the most. That is a fact of how capitalism works and it is indeed standard and right. If you want someone to give you money so you can have a better life when you haven't done anything to earn it, then you need to find charity, not a job. If you are not happy with that system, you need to go live in a socialist country, like North Korea where they pay everyone about the same.

You are embarrassing yourself here. I'd recommend you refrain from referencing foreign dictatorships until you've done some research.

I'm a well-paid, legal nanny with a BA from a top-10 school, five years of teaching experience, multi-lingual, qualified in several other fields, and I have both job satisfaction and great benefits as a nanny. So...yes, I'd say on that point you're correct - the supply and demand is working out well for me, just as it is for many other nannies. This argument that nannies should do more to improve themselves if they want to earn more is too inane to be offensive - do you really want the least educated, least intelligent, least ambitious person helping to raise your children? Or do you want to hire someone whose intellectual, academic, social, and emotional skills are on par with your own? If it's the latter, you'll pay a little more. If that's irrelevant to you, by all means, offer less - it's your choice, just like it's my choice to be a nanny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Making 40-50k a year with limited benefits and no job security is hardly living the lifestyle of someone making 100k. Some nannies are actually well educated and could be teachers but enjoy one on one with children. They do more then wipe your kids ass. To say I'm selfish because I want to make a livable wage that doesn't involve me working a second job is crazy. You obviously never truly struggled in your life to be say such a thing and have no idea the value of a great educator. Sure you can pay any hobo off the street to help raise your children but don't expect someone with experience and an education to work for dirt. If a warm body is all you need then good for you but even here in Boston illegals make $15.

I haven't struggled financially but I have worked my butt off at school, and at work going beyond what is expected of me and doing work that I don't like so I can provide for my family and have stability. You CHOSE to be a nanny because you ENJOY working one on one with kids. Sorry kid. I enjoy making four course meals and going to movies. If I tried to become a cook or work in hollywood, I would not make what I do. What you are saying really tells me you only want to do what you enjoy doing and not work hard but still live well. Life doesn't work that way.

Not all of us chose to be a nanny. And many of us work our butts off at school and work too. You have no idea what struggles, challenges, life-choices brought us to this point, but it doesn't make you better than us. I for example was raised in an abusive household. Worked my ass off and earned a full ride to school. My parents did everything they could to distract me from school, and eventually it worked. I lost my scholarship, moved out on my own, had to put the brakes on school, and now Im working as a nanny because it is one of few jobs that I can work without a degree that pays me more than minimum wage. Im not lazy, quite the opposite. I do a damn good job whether you believe me or not. And Im smart enough not to work for peanuts. Im also not entitled. I've worked for everything I have and will have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Employment and salary is based on a market of supply and demand. People who have money try to pay the least to get the most. That is a fact of how capitalism works and it is indeed standard and right. If you want someone to give you money so you can have a better life when you haven't done anything to earn it, then you need to find charity, not a job. If you are not happy with that system, you need to go live in a socialist country, like North Korea where they pay everyone about the same.

You are embarrassing yourself here. I'd recommend you refrain from referencing foreign dictatorships until you've done some research.

I'm a well-paid, legal nanny with a BA from a top-10 school, five years of teaching experience, multi-lingual, qualified in several other fields, and I have both job satisfaction and great benefits as a nanny. So...yes, I'd say on that point you're correct - the supply and demand is working out well for me, just as it is for many other nannies. This argument that nannies should do more to improve themselves if they want to earn more is too inane to be offensive - do you really want the least educated, least intelligent, least ambitious person helping to raise your children? Or do you want to hire someone whose intellectual, academic, social, and emotional skills are on par with your own? If it's the latter, you'll pay a little more. If that's irrelevant to you, by all means, offer less - it's your choice, just like it's my choice to be a nanny.

Speak for yourself. Learn to use words like inane before you talk about how you got a BA from a top-10 school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Making 40-50k a year with limited benefits and no job security is hardly living the lifestyle of someone making 100k. Some nannies are actually well educated and could be teachers but enjoy one on one with children. They do more then wipe your kids ass. To say I'm selfish because I want to make a livable wage that doesn't involve me working a second job is crazy. You obviously never truly struggled in your life to be say such a thing and have no idea the value of a great educator. Sure you can pay any hobo off the street to help raise your children but don't expect someone with experience and an education to work for dirt. If a warm body is all you need then good for you but even here in Boston illegals make $15.

I haven't struggled financially but I have worked my butt off at school, and at work going beyond what is expected of me and doing work that I don't like so I can provide for my family and have stability. You CHOSE to be a nanny because you ENJOY working one on one with kids. Sorry kid. I enjoy making four course meals and going to movies. If I tried to become a cook or work in hollywood, I would not make what I do. What you are saying really tells me you only want to do what you enjoy doing and not work hard but still live well. Life doesn't work that way.

Not all of us chose to be a nanny. And many of us work our butts off at school and work too. You have no idea what struggles, challenges, life-choices brought us to this point, but it doesn't make you better than us. I for example was raised in an abusive household. Worked my ass off and earned a full ride to school. My parents did everything they could to distract me from school, and eventually it worked. I lost my scholarship, moved out on my own, had to put the brakes on school, and now Im working as a nanny because it is one of few jobs that I can work without a degree that pays me more than minimum wage. Im not lazy, quite the opposite. I do a damn good job whether you believe me or not. And Im smart enough not to work for peanuts. Im also not entitled. I've worked for everything I have and will have.

This is really sad and I feel bad for you but your MB and DB don't owe you any more $$ because you went through all that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Employment and salary is based on a market of supply and demand. People who have money try to pay the least to get the most. That is a fact of how capitalism works and it is indeed standard and right. If you want someone to give you money so you can have a better life when you haven't done anything to earn it, then you need to find charity, not a job. If you are not happy with that system, you need to go live in a socialist country, like North Korea where they pay everyone about the same.

You are embarrassing yourself here. I'd recommend you refrain from referencing foreign dictatorships until you've done some research.

I'm a well-paid, legal nanny with a BA from a top-10 school, five years of teaching experience, multi-lingual, qualified in several other fields, and I have both job satisfaction and great benefits as a nanny. So...yes, I'd say on that point you're correct - the supply and demand is working out well for me, just as it is for many other nannies. This argument that nannies should do more to improve themselves if they want to earn more is too inane to be offensive - do you really want the least educated, least intelligent, least ambitious person helping to raise your children? Or do you want to hire someone whose intellectual, academic, social, and emotional skills are on par with your own? If it's the latter, you'll pay a little more. If that's irrelevant to you, by all means, offer less - it's your choice, just like it's my choice to be a nanny.

Also, are you attacking me because I called N. Korea socialist instead of communist? The two ideas are similar and although N. Korea is officially communist, they have a lot of socialist elements to which I was referencing. It's too bad I had to explain that to you. I would've expected more from someone with a "BA from a top-10 school."

-East Asian studies major from a top-3 (2?1?) school that begins with a H.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Employment and salary is based on a market of supply and demand. People who have money try to pay the least to get the most. That is a fact of how capitalism works and it is indeed standard and right. If you want someone to give you money so you can have a better life when you haven't done anything to earn it, then you need to find charity, not a job. If you are not happy with that system, you need to go live in a socialist country, like North Korea where they pay everyone about the same.

You are embarrassing yourself here. I'd recommend you refrain from referencing foreign dictatorships until you've done some research.

I'm a well-paid, legal nanny with a BA from a top-10 school, five years of teaching experience, multi-lingual, qualified in several other fields, and I have both job satisfaction and great benefits as a nanny. So...yes, I'd say on that point you're correct - the supply and demand is working out well for me, just as it is for many other nannies. This argument that nannies should do more to improve themselves if they want to earn more is too inane to be offensive - do you really want the least educated, least intelligent, least ambitious person helping to raise your children? Or do you want to hire someone whose intellectual, academic, social, and emotional skills are on par with your own? If it's the latter, you'll pay a little more. If that's irrelevant to you, by all means, offer less - it's your choice, just like it's my choice to be a nanny.

Speak for yourself. Learn to use words like inane before you talk about how you got a BA from a top-10 school.

in·ane/i?n?n/
Adjective:
Silly; stupid; not significant.


Like I said, it's an inane argument. Should I substitue "silly" instead?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Making 40-50k a year with limited benefits and no job security is hardly living the lifestyle of someone making 100k. Some nannies are actually well educated and could be teachers but enjoy one on one with children. They do more then wipe your kids ass. To say I'm selfish because I want to make a livable wage that doesn't involve me working a second job is crazy. You obviously never truly struggled in your life to be say such a thing and have no idea the value of a great educator. Sure you can pay any hobo off the street to help raise your children but don't expect someone with experience and an education to work for dirt. If a warm body is all you need then good for you but even here in Boston illegals make $15.

I haven't struggled financially but I have worked my butt off at school, and at work going beyond what is expected of me and doing work that I don't like so I can provide for my family and have stability. You CHOSE to be a nanny because you ENJOY working one on one with kids. Sorry kid. I enjoy making four course meals and going to movies. If I tried to become a cook or work in hollywood, I would not make what I do. What you are saying really tells me you only want to do what you enjoy doing and not work hard but still live well. Life doesn't work that way.

Not all of us chose to be a nanny. And many of us work our butts off at school and work too. You have no idea what struggles, challenges, life-choices brought us to this point, but it doesn't make you better than us. I for example was raised in an abusive household. Worked my ass off and earned a full ride to school. My parents did everything they could to distract me from school, and eventually it worked. I lost my scholarship, moved out on my own, had to put the brakes on school, and now Im working as a nanny because it is one of few jobs that I can work without a degree that pays me more than minimum wage. Im not lazy, quite the opposite. I do a damn good job whether you believe me or not. And Im smart enough not to work for peanuts. Im also not entitled. I've worked for everything I have and will have.

This is really sad and I feel bad for you but your MB and DB don't owe you any more $$ because you went through all that.

Thats not what I was arguing at all. Just that people make assumptions about why women choose to be nannies and they really have no idea. I also think that from a moral prospective you should not be looking to pay a nanny as little as possible. My MB and DB pay me exactly what I negotiated for and Im not angling for more. I would never accept a job I felt didn't pay me what I am worth. Just as there is a muck of nannies on the market so are there jobs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Employment and salary is based on a market of supply and demand. People who have money try to pay the least to get the most. That is a fact of how capitalism works and it is indeed standard and right. If you want someone to give you money so you can have a better life when you haven't done anything to earn it, then you need to find charity, not a job. If you are not happy with that system, you need to go live in a socialist country, like North Korea where they pay everyone about the same.

You are embarrassing yourself here. I'd recommend you refrain from referencing foreign dictatorships until you've done some research.

I'm a well-paid, legal nanny with a BA from a top-10 school, five years of teaching experience, multi-lingual, qualified in several other fields, and I have both job satisfaction and great benefits as a nanny. So...yes, I'd say on that point you're correct - the supply and demand is working out well for me, just as it is for many other nannies. This argument that nannies should do more to improve themselves if they want to earn more is too inane to be offensive - do you really want the least educated, least intelligent, least ambitious person helping to raise your children? Or do you want to hire someone whose intellectual, academic, social, and emotional skills are on par with your own? If it's the latter, you'll pay a little more. If that's irrelevant to you, by all means, offer less - it's your choice, just like it's my choice to be a nanny.

Also, are you attacking me because I called N. Korea socialist instead of communist? The two ideas are similar and although N. Korea is officially communist, they have a lot of socialist elements to which I was referencing. It's too bad I had to explain that to you. I would've expected more from someone with a "BA from a top-10 school."

-East Asian studies major from a top-3 (2?1?) school that begins with a H.

Yes, I was criticizing you for referencing "socialist North Korea" and how they pay their workers. Sorry you didn't get such a great education at whatever school you went to, but there are SIGNIFICANT differences between a socialist country (e.g. Sweden) and a communist country (e.g. China) and a communist dictatorship (e.g. North Korea). Blurring them together does us all a disservice, especially in our current political climate where President Obama is routinely charged with "being a socialist."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Making 40-50k a year with limited benefits and no job security is hardly living the lifestyle of someone making 100k. Some nannies are actually well educated and could be teachers but enjoy one on one with children. They do more then wipe your kids ass. To say I'm selfish because I want to make a livable wage that doesn't involve me working a second job is crazy. You obviously never truly struggled in your life to be say such a thing and have no idea the value of a great educator. Sure you can pay any hobo off the street to help raise your children but don't expect someone with experience and an education to work for dirt. If a warm body is all you need then good for you but even here in Boston illegals make $15.

I haven't struggled financially but I have worked my butt off at school, and at work going beyond what is expected of me and doing work that I don't like so I can provide for my family and have stability. You CHOSE to be a nanny because you ENJOY working one on one with kids. Sorry kid. I enjoy making four course meals and going to movies. If I tried to become a cook or work in hollywood, I would not make what I do. What you are saying really tells me you only want to do what you enjoy doing and not work hard but still live well. Life doesn't work that way.

Not all of us chose to be a nanny. And many of us work our butts off at school and work too. You have no idea what struggles, challenges, life-choices brought us to this point, but it doesn't make you better than us. I for example was raised in an abusive household. Worked my ass off and earned a full ride to school. My parents did everything they could to distract me from school, and eventually it worked. I lost my scholarship, moved out on my own, had to put the brakes on school, and now Im working as a nanny because it is one of few jobs that I can work without a degree that pays me more than minimum wage. Im not lazy, quite the opposite. I do a damn good job whether you believe me or not. And Im smart enough not to work for peanuts. Im also not entitled. I've worked for everything I have and will have.

Ok. Let me break this down.

You shouldn't be a nanny if you don't choose to be. It is not like getting stuck working in retail or food service, it is a much bigger commitment and there are much greater consequences to a subpar performance.

If what you mean is, this isn't what you choose to do forever, it is a stepping stone to bigger things in your life, then that is great! Then you are exactly the type of nanny I was referencing as due for higher pay - someone ambitious, someone intelligent (with a full ride to college you must be), someone able to communicate clearly and effectively, etc. So... I do think you're better than a lot of other nannies. Sorry I guess? I do think EVERYONE deserves a living wage and the state of our minimum wage is shameful, but when MBs show up here saying they don't have to pay more than $10/hr for a nanny they are correct - if what they want is an illegal, minimal-English, non-driving nanny. Supply and demand for nannies of varying qualifications, experience, skills, presentation, etc. brings us to varying pay grades, however. That's all I meant.

[Anonymous]

PP here.

Sorry other PP - I was reading too fast and thought your post was directed at me. It wasn't. Keep up the hard work and know what you're worth