Does anyone have black employers?

[Anonymous]

I ask this an AA MB. I think nannies are always surprised when they meet me

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I ask this an AA MB. I think nannies are always surprised when they meet me

Being a native Washingtonian with very diverse social groups, my experience is that black families tend to be better "connected", and therefore resort less to "cold" interviewing for assistance. IMHO, it's the better way, especially when it comes to the care of children.

[Anonymous]

Most of my black friends have their kids with family or family friends. I think it's by virtue of the fact that the community is closer. I have a very diverse group of friends, in fact, and of all of my black working friends, none have nannies. There are a couple of kids in daycares, both centers and home daycares, and the rest have family members that watch their children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most of my black friends have their kids with family or family friends. I think it's by virtue of the fact that the community is closer. I have a very diverse group of friends, in fact, and of all of my black working friends, none have nannies. There are a couple of kids in daycares, both centers and home daycares, and the rest have family members that watch their children.

This. I grew up being watched by my aunts and grandmother, spending every day with my cousins. I intend to do the same with my children when the time comes. One on one attention is great, but family bonds are also very special.

[Anonymous]

There are a lot of AA professionals who live in DC for jobs and don't have family in the area. Are most turning to daycare instead of nannies?

[Anonymous]

This is not meant to be racist, I am black myself, but as a nanny I have found that a lot of black families that start out looking for a nanny attempt to grossly under pay. Im talking $150/week for 3 kids from 7-6 under pay. I think its simply a result of having little knowledge of what hiring a nanny entails. They often falsely assume that its the same as hiring a neighborhood teenager on a Friday night to babysit. So the attempt fails miserably, the children go to daycare, and they tell all their friends to never try it because its awful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is not meant to be racist, I am black myself, but as a nanny I have found that a lot of black families that start out looking for a nanny attempt to grossly under pay. Im talking $150/week for 3 kids from 7-6 under pay. I think its simply a result of having little knowledge of what hiring a nanny entails. They often falsely assume that its the same as hiring a neighborhood teenager on a Friday night to babysit. So the attempt fails miserably, the children go to daycare, and they tell all their friends to never try it because its awful.

Then you failed.
We're not talking about whether or not black employers under-pay. We're talking about how common or uncommon it is for AA's in DC to have nannie

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is not meant to be racist, I am black myself, but as a nanny I have found that a lot of black families that start out looking for a nanny attempt to grossly under pay. Im talking $150/week for 3 kids from 7-6 under pay. I think its simply a result of having little knowledge of what hiring a nanny entails. They often falsely assume that its the same as hiring a neighborhood teenager on a Friday night to babysit. So the attempt fails miserably, the children go to daycare, and they tell all their friends to never try it because its awful.

Then you failed.
We're not talking about whether or not black employers under-pay. We're talking about how common or uncommon it is for AA's in DC to have nannie

People on DCUM respond however they want, even though it often gets way off OP's question. There's no "winning" or "failing" here, but there certainly is a diversity of opinions and tangents. You never know what to expect. Isn't that why you're here?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is not meant to be racist, I am black myself, but as a nanny I have found that a lot of black families that start out looking for a nanny attempt to grossly under pay. Im talking $150/week for 3 kids from 7-6 under pay. I think its simply a result of having little knowledge of what hiring a nanny entails. They often falsely assume that its the same as hiring a neighborhood teenager on a Friday night to babysit. So the attempt fails miserably, the children go to daycare, and they tell all their friends to never try it because its awful.

Then you failed.
We're not talking about whether or not black employers under-pay. We're talking about how common or uncommon it is for AA's in DC to have nannie

Well, I don't see how the pp was racist. But she did give some insight on why some AAs may not have a nanny. And like others said I find many AAs rely on family, friends, and daycare as opposed to having a regular nanny. There are exceptions to everything but this seems to be culturally the norm.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is not meant to be racist, I am black myself, but as a nanny I have found that a lot of black families that start out looking for a nanny attempt to grossly under pay. Im talking $150/week for 3 kids from 7-6 under pay. I think its simply a result of having little knowledge of what hiring a nanny entails. They often falsely assume that its the same as hiring a neighborhood teenager on a Friday night to babysit. So the attempt fails miserably, the children go to daycare, and they tell all their friends to never try it because its awful.

Then you failed.
We're not talking about whether or not black employers under-pay. We're talking about how common or uncommon it is for AA's in DC to have nannie

I addressed the question. One of the reasons you don't see a lot of black families with nannies is because they go into the search with out of whack expectations and have a miserable time finding one, or they find someone and their nanny ends up being worthless like their pay rate. Just my observation, not an across the board fact, but I do think it contributes to the observation OP described.

[Anonymous]

I almost accepted a job with a biracial couple but the scheduling didn't pan out. Other than them I have to say I've never even been interviewed by black MB/DBs. No clue why.

[Anonymous]

Maybe it's OP who is surprised that most nannies don't much care what color you or your children are, as long as you pay fairly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is not meant to be racist, I am black myself, but as a nanny I have found that a lot of black families that start out looking for a nanny attempt to grossly under pay. Im talking $150/week for 3 kids from 7-6 under pay. I think its simply a result of having little knowledge of what hiring a nanny entails. They often falsely assume that its the same as hiring a neighborhood teenager on a Friday night to babysit. So the attempt fails miserably, the children go to daycare, and they tell all their friends to never try it because its awful.

Then you failed.
We're not talking about whether or not black employers under-pay. We're talking about how common or uncommon it is for AA's in DC to have nannie

People on DCUM respond however they want, even though it often gets way off OP's question. There's no "winning" or "failing" here, but there certainly is a diversity of opinions and tangents. You never know what to expect. Isn't that why you're here?

+1

[Anonymous]

OP, I'm an AA MB, and I get the same surprised responses. I don't know why that is, but I will say that every other woman I know with a nanny (friends, work colleagues) is white, so I am never surprised that nanny candidates are surprised. For some of the PPs, I will say I don't think AA employers are cheap. I'm not going to scream racist, but that is kind of a harsh conclusion to come to right out of the gate. In my own family, I will say culturally a nanny is not what we usually do. My relatives send their kids to daycare, and they were surprised when we decided to hire a nanny too. It isn't always a matter of what one can afford (though of course that is it in some cases), but more a matter of what one is used to seeing. Most of my family only ever knew of nannies from television. They tend toward home daycare providers (and in fact one woman in my family IS a home daycare provider) and family or daycare centers when all else fails. Entirely a culture thing, as far as I can tell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I'm an AA MB, and I get the same surprised responses. I don't know why that is, but I will say that every other woman I know with a nanny (friends, work colleagues) is white, so I am never surprised that nanny candidates are surprised. For some of the PPs, I will say I don't think AA employers are cheap. I'm not going to scream racist, but that is kind of a harsh conclusion to come to right out of the gate. In my own family, I will say culturally a nanny is not what we usually do. My relatives send their kids to daycare, and they were surprised when we decided to hire a nanny too. It isn't always a matter of what one can afford (though of course that is it in some cases), but more a matter of what one is used to seeing. Most of my family only ever knew of nannies from television. They tend toward home daycare providers (and in fact one woman in my family IS a home daycare provider) and family or daycare centers when all else fails. Entirely a culture thing, as far as I can tell.

I'm the PP I believe you were referring to. My point was not that AA employers are cheap. I was trying to make the connection that its not what is normally done, so they have little knowledge of how it works. So the families that do attempt to go the nanny route often make te mistake of offering to pay what one might pay a family member or friend to watch their child. They know what they see of nannies on TV and are expecting Alice from the Brady Bunch (cook, clean, drive, laundry, the whole 9) but are not expecting the sticker shock that comes with it. These are the families I see posting their ad every other week offering the same $150 as the revolving door goes round and round.