Anyone else having problems getting hired?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I keep hearing stories on DCUM about families paying $30, 35, 40/hour for nannies. We have had same nanny for 5+ years and pay $25-30/hour. I would believe $30/hour for PT positions but not for FT. I want to remain competitive with our caregiver’s compensation so I refer regularly to the Care.com aggregated W-2 wage data as they are one of the most commonly used payroll services (HomePay). DC is currently $22.15/hour (https://www.care.com/c/average-nanny-salary-by-state/). If anyone is actually making $30+/hour for a FT position, are you getting paid under the table? This of course would not be referenced in the W-2 data but has implications for the employee’s future SS earnings and the employer if they get caught.

Another employer here. My sense is that the rates on this website are inflated. Of course there are nannies making $40/hr but those seem like specific one off situations. In real life, I see most job offers at $25/hr - sometimes higher, sometimes lower.

I think some posters are confused about how a capitalistic market economy works. An employer doesn’t set your salary based on your living expenses, nor does an employer set your salary based on what you perceive they can afford. (Yes, even if a potential employer drives a fancy car or lives in a fancy neighborhood, that doesn’t automatically entitle you to a higher wage).

Instead, employers set a rate and you can accept or decline. For OP, the fact that you have not been able to secure employment for the past five weeks should suggest to you (1) your rate is too high for the current market; and/or (2) you will need a long runway (loan from parents? Emergency funds? Dip into retirement savings?) while you wait for a $35/hr+ job. There just aren’t that many out there.

As a reminder, in a free market, you are able to pursue whatever career you want. If you choose nannying, great. There is a ceiling to your earning potential. You will always be an at-will employee. You will always be subject to market conditions and the forces of supply and demand. It is what it is.

Basic math would also confirm that most families are not paying $40/hr+. For a family to pay $40/hr for full time care, assuming no overtime, the nanny would gross $83,200/year. The family would obviously be in the highest tax bracket, and then add in the taxes they pay as an employer (FICA, unemployment, etc), and the family needs to gross at least, say, $130,000 just to pay the nanny. Per US Department of Health and Human Services, ideally childcare does not exceed 7% of a family's gross household income to be considered "affordable." So that family needs to make at least 1.8 million, per year, to "afford" their nanny. Approximately 731,492 households in the US make more than $1.8 million annually. They are the 1%. So OP and the other nannies are really only available to the 1%. Which is totally fine, but there just aren't that many families out there making that much money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I keep hearing stories on DCUM about families paying $30, 35, 40/hour for nannies. We have had same nanny for 5+ years and pay $25-30/hour. I would believe $30/hour for PT positions but not for FT. I want to remain competitive with our caregiver’s compensation so I refer regularly to the Care.com aggregated W-2 wage data as they are one of the most commonly used payroll services (HomePay). DC is currently $22.15/hour (https://www.care.com/c/average-nanny-salary-by-state/). If anyone is actually making $30+/hour for a FT position, are you getting paid under the table? This of course would not be referenced in the W-2 data but has implications for the employee’s future SS earnings and the employer if they get caught.

Another employer here. My sense is that the rates on this website are inflated. Of course there are nannies making $40/hr but those seem like specific one off situations. In real life, I see most job offers at $25/hr - sometimes higher, sometimes lower.

I think some posters are confused about how a capitalistic market economy works. An employer doesn’t set your salary based on your living expenses, nor does an employer set your salary based on what you perceive they can afford. (Yes, even if a potential employer drives a fancy car or lives in a fancy neighborhood, that doesn’t automatically entitle you to a higher wage).

Instead, employers set a rate and you can accept or decline. For OP, the fact that you have not been able to secure employment for the past five weeks should suggest to you (1) your rate is too high for the current market; and/or (2) you will need a long runway (loan from parents? Emergency funds? Dip into retirement savings?) while you wait for a $35/hr+ job. There just aren’t that many out there.

As a reminder, in a free market, you are able to pursue whatever career you want. If you choose nannying, great. There is a ceiling to your earning potential. You will always be an at-will employee. You will always be subject to market conditions and the forces of supply and demand. It is what it is.

+2

I have always had nannies, we pay well and are liked by our nannies, and we've never paid close to what the rates appear to be on DCUM. We paid $26 for a nanny share in 2020-2021, $26 for our own nanny in 2022, and are about to start a new share for $30, all on the books. From my experience, those are roughly market rates, and nannies have been happy with us.

I think a lot of DCUM posts are of nannies trying to raise market rates. Not a bad technique, honestly, but would yeah lead to some disappointment when nannies don't understand why they aren't making DCUM rates.

[Anonymous]

While I think some of the posts talking about inflated wages are nannies, I think some are daycares/daycare providers trying to drum up business.

-former nanny

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stop sleeping on the job, it's terrible and I agree you should be fired for that. No one sleeps while working.


- nanny.

I suspect its made up given the writing style, sleeping on the job, doing the absolute minimum and salary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nanny here. It isn’t you it’s the market. People are struggling everywhere and can’t afford us :/

They can afford us…they just want to lowball and or work us to death for “good money.” I’ve nannied for 20yrs and see the games these parents play. The work from homes are the worst (always around pretending to work, and disrupting the flow). They have $ to buy bags, shop at Whole Foods, and have unlimited packages delivered daily from Amazon but nickel and dime us. They stick us their children 9 to 12 hrs a day, come home, feed the kids dinner and put them to bed while having the nerve to call themselves a parent.
There’s nothing wrong with napping while the child naps if you have a monitor and/or are in the room with them.


They have no loyalty and the agencies are a joke as well. Their application process is like trying to work for the CIA or something.

I’m sorry you’re going through this Op. Do what you have to do and in the next position make sure you save $ for situations that arise like this. Don’t put anything past anybody.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nanny here. It isn’t you it’s the market. People are struggling everywhere and can’t afford us :/

They can afford us…they just want to lowball and or work us to death for “good money.” I’ve nannied for 20yrs and see the games these parents play. The work from homes are the worst (always around pretending to work, and disrupting the flow). They have $ to buy bags, shop at Whole Foods, and have unlimited packages delivered daily from Amazon but nickel and dime us. They stick us their children 9 to 12 hrs a day, come home, feed the kids dinner and put them to bed while having the nerve to call themselves a parent.
There’s nothing wrong with napping while the child naps if you have a monitor and/or are in the room with them.


They have no loyalty and the agencies are a joke as well. Their application process is like trying to work for the CIA or something.

I’m sorry you’re going through this Op. Do what you have to do and in the next position make sure you save $ for situations that arise like this. Don’t put anything past anybody.

If you are earning $40 an hour, you need to work long hours so they can to make the money to pay you. You are complaining about doing your job? No wonder you are unemployed. No, you should not be napping while the kids are napping. Grown ups don't nap at work. You are not entitled to their money. No, they are not going to have some weird loyalty to you. Its a job. People are replaceable.

[Anonymous]

^ then they should stay at home and care for their own kids.

[Anonymous]

How are you broke after making $35 an hour for a year+? I made $10-$15 an hour for years and I invested myself into financial freedom.
And yes, $2500 apartment is too much. You are barely there.
You are bad with money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I keep hearing stories on DCUM about families paying $30, 35, 40/hour for nannies. We have had same nanny for 5+ years and pay $25-30/hour. I would believe $30/hour for PT positions but not for FT. I want to remain competitive with our caregiver’s compensation so I refer regularly to the Care.com aggregated W-2 wage data as they are one of the most commonly used payroll services (HomePay). DC is currently $22.15/hour (https://www.care.com/c/average-nanny-salary-by-state/). If anyone is actually making $30+/hour for a FT position, are you getting paid under the table? This of course would not be referenced in the W-2 data but has implications for the employee’s future SS earnings and the employer if they get caught.

My nanny made 14.50 in 1996. Live in nanny, room and board included, my single father was not rich. Even if she needed an apartment it would have been 350/mo. 30 yrs later, 25 is too low! I hope you're paying your nanny the higher end of your spectrum

[LindaNieto]

Hi, I read your post I am so sorry that happened to you. I am new in this app I am not sure how post my own need so if you guys know something for nanny position please let me know, thank you.