NYT Article on Nanny Compensation

[Anonymous]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/27/business/a-study-of-home-help-finds-low-worker-pay-and-few-benefits.html?pagewanted=1

This is very illuminating about the nanny market. Note that they only studied major metro areas with a focus on NYC, where the cost of living is 25% higher than DC. Yet, I'm paying my DC nanny twice this median salary plus health insurance contribution, paid sick and vacation leave, unemployment and workers' comp insurance--and certain DCUM posters told me that I was paying close to the market rate (!). I feel like a sucker.

[Anonymous]

Go find a nanny to pay $10/hr to. I bet you will do REALLY well with her.

[Anonymous]

and certain DCUM posters told me that I was paying close to the market rate (!). I feel like a sucker.

If you based your rates on what the nannies post on this board rather than negotiating with candidates and looking at rates in your area then yes you are a sucker. I did the same thing and hired a nanny at $16 an hour who did no housekeeping. I later found out that everyone else in my area was paying around $12 an hour and their nannies were just as qualified and usually better than mine. We let our nanny go and hired a new nanny for $12 an hour who is much better with the kids and does light housekeeping. It just didn't make sense to give raises to someone who I started too high and wasn't flexible in doing anything beyond what she originally accepted even though her workload was declining as my younger child was napping for long stretches and my older child went to preschool. Best decision ever! 10K savings, better more active nanny, happier kids, and clean house with laundry and grocery shopping done.

It was an amicable parting because I told the old nanny that we needed someone who could so housekeeping and we're not in the position to increase the salary so if she wasn't interested then we need to find someone else. My old nanny ended up taking a job with a longer commute for $14 an hour with 3 kids under 4 that includes housekeeping. She would have been better off taking on some additional responsibilities and not expecting to move up to $17 for no housekeeping or $20 for housekeeping.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

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.

+1 So many of you MB's expect your produce and meat to have been treated better than you treat your nanny.

[Anonymous]

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.

At the end of the day, nannies will never love our children like mothers love their children. Nannies did not give birth and nannies did not breastfeed like mothers do. No amount of money will cause nannies to act more like mothers. Love cannot be bought so if you are saying if I paid you more and you'd act like a better nanny, you are a shrew.

[Anonymous]

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.

Many people live on $12 an hour. Daycare workers make around $10 an hour. I will never understand why nannies see themselves as above everyone else. Its not smart to pay an inferior nanny with a poor work ethic an extra 10K. This doest benefit your baby it benefits her! Its much better for your child and family to find a good nanny who provides value to your family at a normal market rate and then put the 10K into college savings. Our $12 an hour nanny is great and certainly is not at the poverty or below line. She lives in a nice apartment with roommates, drives a reliable but used car, dresses cleanly, and has very good working conditions.

[Anonymous]

I am in the same boat with you. I also was duped on this bulletin board by nannies posting fake inflated salaries. My $18/hr likes to keep it professional you see, and she is a nanny, not a housekeeper. What I have learned is that if you pay more, you get the kind of person who gives you less.

[Anonymous]

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.

At the end of the day, nannies will never love our children like mothers love their children. Nannies did not give birth and nannies did not breastfeed like mothers do. No amount of money will cause nannies to act more like mothers. Love cannot be bought so if you are saying if I paid you more and you'd act like a better nanny, you are a shrew.

So, mothers who adopt or use a surrogate don't love their kids? Mothers who don't breastfeed? For that matter, fathers must not love their kids much either -- they don't give birth to them or breastfeed either.
You're a peach.

[Anonymous]

The researchers found that domestic workers who were illegal immigrants earned considerably less than those who were American-born or naturalized citizens.

Ten percent of the domestic workers reported that at least once during the past 12 months they were paid less than agreed to or not at all.

While the article touched on it (with some of the workers being illegal immigrants), it does not come out any say whether or not ANY of these workers pay taxes.

[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.

At the end of the day, nannies will never love our children like mothers love their children. Nannies did not give birth and nannies did not breastfeed like mothers do. No amount of money will cause nannies to act more like mothers. Love cannot be bought so if you are saying if I paid you more and you'd act like a better nanny, you are a shrew.

So, mothers who adopt or use a surrogate don't love their kids? Mothers who don't breastfeed? For that matter, fathers must not love their kids much either -- they don't give birth to them or breastfeed either.
You're a peach.

You're just eager to argue aren't you. Nannies are not mothers. Nannies like you complain about not making 2 more dollars an hour on bulletin boards like this. Do you love your charge enough to pay someone to watch them? Exactly--they are not yours and you are only there because you are paid and apparently, you aren't even paid enough to be satisfied. Mothers don't need nannies like you. You should just quit and save a lot of people some headache.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

Did you know that a lot of daycare workers who aren't teenagers or college students, take government assistance because they can't support their families. Do you know why they take these jobs that pay so little...because they don't have the right education to get a better paying job. Most adult daycare providers who make $10 per hour would leave their position in a heart beat if they could make more. You don't need any training or education to become a teacher at most centers.

Also I bet 95% of who did that survey, don't pay taxes especially in NYC and Boston.

You can pay whatever you want to a nanny who is willing to accept your offer but don't act like that's standard or right. Their are families out there that value nannies because they know its a luxury to have individualized care for their children and will pay well for a qualified professional. Not everyone can afford one and that's why daycares exist. Group care for young children has always been considered second rate compared to individual care and there are plenty of studies proving this. If you can't afford to pay a nanny then use daycare but don't try to justify paying a grown adult poverty level wage.

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did you know that a lot of daycare workers who aren't teenagers or college students, take government assistance because they can't support their families. Do you know why they take these jobs that pay so little...because they don't have the right education to get a better paying job. Most adult daycare providers who make $10 per hour would leave their position in a heart beat if they could make more. You don't need any training or education to become a teacher at most centers.

Also I bet 95% of who did that survey, don't pay taxes especially in NYC and Boston.

You can pay whatever you want to a nanny who is willing to accept your offer but don't act like that's standard or right. Their are families out there that value nannies because they know its a luxury to have individualized care for their children and will pay well for a qualified professional. Not everyone can afford one and that's why daycares exist. Group care for young children has always been considered second rate compared to individual care and there are plenty of studies proving this. If you can't afford to pay a nanny then use daycare but don't try to justify paying a grown adult poverty level wage.

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.