Social Security? Do families cover nanny's portion?

[Anonymous]

OP, are you interviewing primarily immigrant nannies? I don't mean to denigrate hard-working immigrant nannies, but the request you're getting is common among women who come from a subculture where getting paid off the books is the norm.

In most cities, immigrant nannies are paid off the books. DC is different because so many employers are compliance-minded lawyers or federal workers who must submit to background checks, which may include inquiry into their domestic employment practices. The nannies you're finding are off-the-books nannies who have adapted to DC. They are really telling you that they want to be paid under the table, but if you insist on doing things the legal way, they will go along with it as long as you incur all the costs of compliance (i.e., their tax burden).

Professional nannies generally want to be paid legally and they are sophisticated enough to have figured out what gross income they need in order to meet their monthly nut. If you really want to hire someone from the off the books camp, you could help them fill out tax withholding worksheets and estimate their takehome pay using an online calculator that those on the gtm.com or breedlove sites. Just be sure that you actually commit to a gross rate rather than the net rate, because the employee's tax rate could change over time.