NYT Article on Nanny Compensation

[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.

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.

By choose to be that is exactly what I meant. I have bigger plans for my life, but I do take my job seriously. And I understand what you are saying. You could find a nanny for less than $10 an hour if you really looked. What I don't understand is the constant advocating for it, and the backlash against nannies who call it what it is; deplorable. Even someone with minimal english who cant drive and isn't here legally deserves to make enough to live on at a full time job that doesn't required them to live with 3 other families and work a part time job in the evening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:By choose to be that is exactly what I meant. I have bigger plans for my life, but I do take my job seriously. And I understand what you are saying. You could find a nanny for less than $10 an hour if you really looked. What I don't understand is the constant advocating for it, and the backlash against nannies who call it what it is; deplorable. Even someone with minimal english who cant drive and isn't here legally deserves to make enough to live on at a full time job that doesn't required them to live with 3 other families and work a part time job in the evening.

+100000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:By choose to be that is exactly what I meant. I have bigger plans for my life, but I do take my job seriously. And I understand what you are saying. You could find a nanny for less than $10 an hour if you really looked. What I don't understand is the constant advocating for it, and the backlash against nannies who call it what it is; deplorable. Even someone with minimal english who cant drive and isn't here legally deserves to make enough to live on at a full time job that doesn't required them to live with 3 other families and work a part time job in the evening.

+100000

You can say the same about all the food service workers and retail workers and everyone making minimum wage. It's not MB and DB's responsibility, moral or otherwise, to make it right for you.

[Anonymous]

You all get for what you paid!!!

You want a happy nanny who depple cares about her work, so paid them well. Otherwise, you will be changing nanny every 3-6 months. Ask yourself what is fair!!

Good luck you all!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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."

So... Obama can be a socialist but call N. Korea socialist and oh man, I am being so ignorant.

Nevermind. I can see why you are a nanny now. I'll just stop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You all get for what you paid!!!

You want a happy nanny who depple cares about her work, so paid them well. Otherwise, you will be changing nanny every 3-6 months. Ask yourself what is fair!!

Good luck you all!

This is the kind of threat/comment that I see DCUM all the time. Probably the same posters who get paid $35/hr. This is simply not true. Many people have wonderful nannies who make what is cited as "average" on reputable news sources and scientific surveys ($10-$14) and they are happy and stay long term. Nannies on DCUM are a special breed. They need to be paid more and do less because ....... MB and DB just owes it to them for some reason.

[Anonymous]

I meet a Latina nanny, she works extremely hard as nanny/housekeeper for $12 an hour (she is illegal) every day when she goes home, she returns home very sad and many times crying. I know her and I tried to encourage to look for other options….because her legal situation there is no option. Her 3 kids need her, and the little money that she send overseas until her kids finish school back in Southdamerica. Her situation broke my heart and I been looking work for her...but no luck. Is that difficult to treat people with dignity and compassion? Is it difficult to be a little be kind and generous? Why we have to be miserable? The cost of a nanny are tax deductible why don’t be generous!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:By choose to be that is exactly what I meant. I have bigger plans for my life, but I do take my job seriously. And I understand what you are saying. You could find a nanny for less than $10 an hour if you really looked. What I don't understand is the constant advocating for it, and the backlash against nannies who call it what it is; deplorable. Even someone with minimal english who cant drive and isn't here legally deserves to make enough to live on at a full time job that doesn't required them to live with 3 other families and work a part time job in the evening.

+100000

You can say the same about all the food service workers and retail workers and everyone making minimum wage. It's not MB and DB's responsibility, moral or otherwise, to make it right for you.

I would say precisely the same thing about all of those jobs. My MB and DB don't have a problem paying me my wage. It's the parents looking for the best possible deal with no concern for the individual they are screwing. There is a human element to this whether you like it or not. If you have no concern for the liveability of the wage you are offering you really ought to rethink your priorities and morals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:By choose to be that is exactly what I meant. I have bigger plans for my life, but I do take my job seriously. And I understand what you are saying. You could find a nanny for less than $10 an hour if you really looked. What I don't understand is the constant advocating for it, and the backlash against nannies who call it what it is; deplorable. Even someone with minimal english who cant drive and isn't here legally deserves to make enough to live on at a full time job that doesn't required them to live with 3 other families and work a part time job in the evening.

+100000

You can say the same about all the food service workers and retail workers and everyone making minimum wage. It's not MB and DB's responsibility, moral or otherwise, to make it right for you.

I would say precisely the same thing about all of those jobs. My MB and DB don't have a problem paying me my wage. It's the parents looking for the best possible deal with no concern for the individual they are screwing. There is a human element to this whether you like it or not. If you have no concern for the liveability of the wage you are offering you really ought to rethink your priorities and morals.

Only a DCUM nanny would think an employer who gave them a job is "screwing" them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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."

So... Obama can be a socialist but call N. Korea socialist and oh man, I am being so ignorant.

Nevermind. I can see why you are a nanny now. I'll just stop.

The point I was making is that Obama is not a socialist. Confusing the differences between socialist countries, communist countries, and communist dictatorships lumps you in with the people who would call him such. It doesn't matter if this is a nanny board or a political board, misinformation distracts people from reality, and the reality is that North Korea is a communist dictatorship and Obama is not a socialist.

Good lord, you're thick.

[Anonymous]

Nanny here. Ugh. These other nannies going on about "loving the children", that's so ridiculous. I care deeply about my charges, but I don't love them. This is a job. Get real.

[Anonymous]

20:50 I'm very sorry that you don't love your charges but some of us that have taken care of the same children for a long time actually do love our charges. Please don't insinuate that we don't love our charges. You don't know us and you don't know who we love.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

To this I would add that the $10-12/hour daycare workers are supervised by someone who earns considerably more. These daycare workers are not paid to make decisions, etc. but to maintain order in the class, make sure diapers are changed on schedule, lunch and snack are served, etc. Your nanny is sole charge when you are gone - one would hope you take this into consideration when evaluating candidates and compensation. There is clearly some middle ground between the $10/hour daycare worker and the $20 hour entitled nanny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:20:50 I'm very sorry that you don't love your charges but some of us that have taken care of the same children for a long time actually do love our charges. Please don't insinuate that we don't love our charges. You don't know us and you don't know who we love.

No need to be sorry... I prefer it that way. Professionalism is a great attribute to have when working a JOB.

[Anonymous]

To this I would add that the $10-12/hour daycare workers are supervised by someone who earns considerably more. These daycare workers are not paid to make decisions, etc. but to maintain order in the class, make sure diapers are changed on schedule, lunch and snack are served, etc. Your nanny is sole charge when you are gone - one would hope you take this into consideration when evaluating candidates and compensation. There is clearly some middle ground between the $10/hour daycare worker and the $20 hour entitled nanny.

I'd actually disagree with this as I've used daycare and had a nanny. The daycare office staff is more focused on the overall running of facilities, business aspects (billing/collecting), compliance with inspectors, hiring etc. While they do supervise the daycare workers the lead worker or teacher as they refer to them really is making the same type of daily decisions that a nanny is making. As much as I really like our nanny, she isn't making big decisions beyond what the infant daycare worker was making on a daily basis.

You could argue that in daycare you could hire workers with far less experience because they can be trained by the more experience childcare givers on site and have closer supervision. However at our daycare all the teachers were required to have child care certifications and the lead teacher/worker in the room needed a degree. Our nanny is great but she like most nannies doesn't have this level of education.

I remember asking a few of the teachers why they chose to work in daycare rather than be a nanny since a nanny paid more. This was long before we decided to go the nanny route so we weren't poaching. They seemed to look down on nannies, certainly didn't view them as individuals who make bigger decisions and saw being a nanny as a stigma.