Opinions please...Should I go back to work?

[Anonymous]

DH and I are trying to conceive our first child. Our HHI ranges between 250k and 350k. We have no debt and significant savings. I only bring in about 55k per year. After taxes and nanny pay, I will likely only make about 15k. My job allows for me to take off a year unpaid, which I'm planning to do. However, after the year off, I would have to go back to work full time in order to keep working. Part time work isn't an option, and it may be difficult to get back into my field if I stay home for a few years. I am feeling really torn between being an at-home mom and going back to work. I would love to hear thoughts on the situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH and I are trying to conceive our first child. Our HHI ranges between 250k and 350k. We have no debt and significant savings. I only bring in about 55k per year. After taxes and nanny pay, I will likely only make about 15k. My job allows for me to take off a year unpaid, which I'm planning to do. However, after the year off, I would have to go back to work full time in order to keep working. Part time work isn't an option, and it may be difficult to get back into my field if I stay home for a few years. I am feeling really torn between being an at-home mom and going back to work. I would love to hear thoughts on the situation.

Was in a similar situation as you.

Children are really really really difficult initially and then get easier as they get older.

When my kids were little, I loved getting out to the office and getting a break. I couldn't do the SAHM thing. It was not for me.. And I had a part time nanny and 2 sets of grandparents. Now that they are almost in elementary school, they are lovely and a pleasure to be around and I contemplate staying home to be around them more. I think it would be fun to be a SAHM now but I know I could not have done it when I was younger even when my kids were out of infant stage.

So that is my story.

I think you need to leave your options open and make your call later. It depends on what kind of person you are, and also on the temperament of your baby too, and your support network, your childcare options, your expectations, so many things that you cannot foresee.

[Anonymous]

Have you checked the rates in your area?
I'm a full time nanny and I gross about $50,000.
Financially it might not make sense for you
to return to work.

[Anonymous]

You're putting the cart waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay before the horse. You aren't pregnant yet. Baby hasn't been born yet. Make some pro/con lists and decide once you're pregnant or after the baby is born.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You're putting the cart waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay before the horse. You aren't pregnant yet. Baby hasn't been born yet. Make some pro/con lists and decide once you're pregnant or after the baby is born.

+10000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have you checked the rates in your area?
I'm a full time nanny and I gross about $50,000.
Financially it might not make sense for you
to return to work.

let me call you a 1%er. Breedlove has been quoted in news articles that 30k is the magic number limit and nannies have a very hard time crossing the 30k salary threshold.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have you checked the rates in your area?
I'm a full time nanny and I gross about $50,000.
Financially it might not make sense for you
to return to work.

let me call you a 1%er. Breedlove has been quoted in news articles that 30k is the magic number limit and nannies have a very hard time crossing the 30k salary threshold.

I live in a small town (not in the DC area), and nannies are paid less here than in DC, NYC, etc. I only make $15/hr. I work 48 hours a week, but my hours are split between two different employers, so I do not make any overtime. I am paid guaranteed hours, so my pay is the same all 52 weeks of the year. My gross income is $37,440.

Nannies in more affluent areas who get $16+ per hour (I know rates of $20+/hr are not uncommon in DC), and who work 50 hours per week (again, very common), and make those 10 hours of overtime every week are definitely making 50k a year, no question.

[Anonymous]

30,000, for 52 weeks is not average. A typical work week
is 50 hours, by these standards this would come out
to $11.50 per hour. I think rates are closer to 40,000-50,000 a year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:30,000, for 52 weeks is not average. A typical work week
is 50 hours, by these standards this would come out
to $11.50 per hour. I think rates are closer to 40,000-50,000 a year.

See Forbes article below.

"The average full-time caregiver–there are some 1.2 million nannies in the U.S. according to government data–earns $26,000 a year, basically minimum wage, according to Breedlove and Associates, a firm that helps some 6,500 families with the legal side of hiring domestic help.

That figure “pops a bit” to around $30,000 in high-cost areas like Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, according to Thomas Breedlove, the firm’s proprietor. This might even err on the high end since these are only families that choose to be above the board when it comes to taxes."

Breedlove, the company that has the ultimate payroll data and knows how much everyone makes, says $30k is on the high end for the Washington DC area.

It is a bit dated but even with inflation, $30k doesn't become $55k in 6 years.

Forbes article "Six-Figure Nannies" http://www.forbes.com/2009/07/17/nannies-child-care-business-wealthy.html

In addition, Brooklyn, NY parent association surveyed 1000 parents around Brooklyn.
The average pay for Brooklyn are
1 child- $14.22/hr
2 children- $15,96/hr
3 children- $16.32/hr

Full study of Brooklyn data- http://www.parkslopeparents.com/docs/NannySurvey2011.FINAL.pdf

There is way too much wage inflation on this board. This board is for nannies talking about how much they would LIKE to be paid. That's a big difference from what the market rate is and what is talked about on here. I would LIKE to be paid an extra 20%-30% higher than my salary too. Doesn't mean it's going to happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:30,000, for 52 weeks is not average. A typical work week
is 50 hours, by these standards this would come out
to $11.50 per hour. I think rates are closer to 40,000-50,000 a year.

This is exactly correct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:30,000, for 52 weeks is not average. A typical work week
is 50 hours, by these standards this would come out
to $11.50 per hour. I think rates are closer to 40,000-50,000 a year.

This is exactly correct.

A lot of people back out the overtime by reducing the base rate.

So for example, if you need 50 hours, and the rate is $10/hr then you have to pay $15 for 10 of those hours. What the employer would like to do, is just pay $500 which is avoiding overtime but is illegal.

So, if both parties agree to a rate of $9.09 instead of $15 with the expectation that there is always 10 hours of overtime each week. Then employer pays $9.09x40=$363.63 plus $9.09*1.5*10=$136.35 for a total of weekly pay of $500.

Not saying anyone should do anything illegal but it is just done a lot. Just because someone says "my rate is $16 per hour and I always week 50 per week" doesn't mean they are making overtime equivalent pay.

The articles and surveys above speak for themselves.

[Anonymous]

If a nanny is working 50 hours a week,
which seems to be typical, at the average rate
of $15. This would equal $39,000 a year.
Certainly more than the quoted $30,000,
but still less than what it should be.

[Anonymous]

OP you should go back to school. This is a NANNY board

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH and I are trying to conceive our first child. Our HHI ranges between 250k and 350k. We have no debt and significant savings. I only bring in about 55k per year. After taxes and nanny pay, I will likely only make about 15k. My job allows for me to take off a year unpaid, which I'm planning to do. However, after the year off, I would have to go back to work full time in order to keep working. Part time work isn't an option, and it may be difficult to get back into my field if I stay home for a few years. I am feeling really torn between being an at-home mom and going back to work. I would love to hear thoughts on the situation.

I'm in the tech industry which is brutal if you take time off and have never left my job. A few of my coworkers are moms who took time off for the early years and found that after 5 years out of the workforce it's almost impossible to get back in despite stellar records and skills. They came in as part-time positions in our office and it still took years for them to work back up to full time and they feel lucky just to make it at all. I don't think they regret the time at home now, but that's really only because they were able to make it back into full time jobs and a year ago they were both so frustrated at part time so far below their expected skill and pay levels that they were planning to quit. So, relax, get pregnant first, have the baby, take the first year off unpaid, go back to work and see how you feel about it as your child goes through the terrible 2s and THEN revisit this question and ask yourself if you'd be happy to stay home if it meant that you could never get back into the workforce.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You're putting the cart waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay before the horse. You aren't pregnant yet. Baby hasn't been born yet. Make some pro/con lists and decide once you're pregnant or after the baby is born.

ditto +1

mom of 4 here- honestly, you won't even be able to make a good decision until you've at least spent your 3 month maternity leave with your new baby. each mom feels differently about going back to work. I still work full-time, and know I could never be a stay-at-home mom. but a couple of my good friends, whom I never thought would quit work, did quit because they couldn't get comfortable with someone else taking care of their baby 10 hours/day.