What's the cost of a live-in nanny?

[Anonymous]

What's the cost of a live-in nanny in the DC area? (Northern Virginis). Thanks

[Anonymous]

This is sort of like asking "how much does a car cost?" There is such a wide range that the question quickly becomes meaningless.

Here are SOME of the relevant factors:

Age of the kids (pay more for close-together, younger ages)
How many hours needed (pay more per hour for part-time)
What schedule (pay more for undesireable schedule)
What kind of discipline/parenting style do you employ (pay more if you are very specific/high maintenance)
What are the living accomodations for the nanny (pay more if she is in a normal bedroom, sharing a bathroom, has less privacy vs. having a separate apartment or suite)
Where exactly do you live (pay more for suburban neighborhood vs. desirable walkable/metro accessable area)

You might also need to pay more for:
Fluency in a specific language (English included)
Ability to drive (esp if you want her to provide a car)
Household tasks not directly related to childcare (most nannies will prepare kids' food during her shift, help with kids' laundry and keep kids' spaces tidy and that's about it, but some will help with more such as errands, cooking, running the vacuum, etc.)
Any issues specific to your family (multiples/SN kids/medical challenges)
Education requirements for the nanny (math tutor, ECE degree, musical instrument or sport teaching ability)
Level of nanny experience
Any special nanny credentials or experience you might want

So first you need to figure out exactly what your "must-have" requirements are, along with some "nice-to-haves" and any "can't-haves," then you can know where you land on the scale. There are nannies willing to work for minimum wage and nannies who charged $25 dollars per hour, so there is a huge huge range, and for those at the lower end, free housing is a perk, but at the higher end it is something they are sacrificing to accomodate you.

[Anonymous]

How many children and how old? What hours will the nanny work? Are you paying on the books or off? Does she have a license and clean driving record, so she can drive your vehicle to take care of the kids, or is she providing her own vehicle and being reimbursed for mileage? What are the job responsibilities? What do the nanny's references say about her, and does she have anything that sets her apart from the other candidates? Are you planning on paying unemployment? Are you planning on paying worker's comp?

Those are all the factors for determining rate for a live-out nanny. For a live-in nanny, ask yourself additional questions: Are you offering live-in accommodations for the nanny's convenience or yours? If it's for her convenience (she opts for live-in, but you offer both), you can charge rent. If it's for your convenience, you can't charge for her room or board (within reason). Are you offering a private room and shared bath, private room and private bath, a basement apartment which limits the noise which carries (with or without a separate entrance), or an attached apartment attached to the back or side of the house? Unless you are paying for on call hours, the nanny will only be available for the hours she's working. A live-in nanny is not automatically your housekeeper, nor is she responsible for anything in your home (including your children) just because she walks through the house to get dinner on the weekend.

Most families don't have appropriate accommodations and/or they don't want to pay a decent wage. If you are willing to adequately compensate, you can have your pick of fantastic nannies.

[Anonymous]

OP, how much does a house cost? I'm sorry, but your question is almost as silly without knowing what you want or can afford. Nannies are expensive. Daycares are relatively cheap.

[Anonymous]

I just saw someone on my neighborhood listserv looking for a live-in nanny to whom she'd pay $200-$300/week for full-time employment, two kids. She said she'd never had trouble finding someone to fill this role before but that now she was.

I think that is outrageously low and probably illegal. Am I wrong?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just saw someone on my neighborhood listserv looking for a live-in nanny to whom she'd pay $200-$300/week for full-time employment, two kids. She said she'd never had trouble finding someone to fill this role before but that now she was.

I think that is outrageously low and probably illegal. Am I wrong?

Outright illegal. Just another parent looking to abuse a nanny. Shame, shame, shame. You should tell her, for God's sake.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just saw someone on my neighborhood listserv looking for a live-in nanny to whom she'd pay $200-$300/week for full-time employment, two kids. She said she'd never had trouble finding someone to fill this role before but that now she was.

I think that is outrageously low and probably illegal. Am I wrong?

I saw someone advertising 9-11/hour, but when I talked to her, she wants to pay $200-250 for 40-50 hours. Yes, it's illegal, number of kids doesn't matter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just saw someone on my neighborhood listserv looking for a live-in nanny to whom she'd pay $200-$300/week for full-time employment, two kids. She said she'd never had trouble finding someone to fill this role before but that now she was.

I think that is outrageously low and probably illegal. Am I wrong?

I saw someone advertising 9-11/hour, but when I talked to her, she wants to pay $200-250 for 40-50 hours. Yes, it's illegal, number of kids doesn't matter.

Rather than telling her it's illegal to hire a nanny for $200-300 per week, I would suggest steering her to the au pair program, which pays au pairs a $200 stipend for up to 45 hours per week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just saw someone on my neighborhood listserv looking for a live-in nanny to whom she'd pay $200-$300/week for full-time employment, two kids. She said she'd never had trouble finding someone to fill this role before but that now she was.

I think that is outrageously low and probably illegal. Am I wrong?

I saw someone advertising 9-11/hour, but when I talked to her, she wants to pay $200-250 for 40-50 hours. Yes, it's illegal, number of kids doesn't matter.

Rather than telling her it's illegal to hire a nanny for $200-300 per week, I would suggest steering her to the au pair program, which pays au pairs a $200 stipend for up to 45 hours per week.

Typical dishonesty. The low stipend is only a small part part of the total costs, not to mention the endless aggravation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just saw someone on my neighborhood listserv looking for a live-in nanny to whom she'd pay $200-$300/week for full-time employment, two kids. She said she'd never had trouble finding someone to fill this role before but that now she was.

I think that is outrageously low and probably illegal. Am I wrong?

I saw someone advertising 9-11/hour, but when I talked to her, she wants to pay $200-250 for 40-50 hours. Yes, it's illegal, number of kids doesn't matter.

Rather than telling her it's illegal to hire a nanny for $200-300 per week, I would suggest steering her to the au pair program, which pays au pairs a $200 stipend for up to 45 hours per week.

Typical dishonesty. The low stipend is only a small part part of the total costs, not to mention the endless aggravation.

Exactly my point. An au pair gets a low stipend but is included with the family for tons of things that most nannies aren't, au pair isn't allowed to do tons of things that a nanny may choose to do or not do, an au pair *must* live-in while a nanny who lives in knows that she's sacrificing privacy and quiet. An au pair gets a stipend, not a salary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just saw someone on my neighborhood listserv looking for a live-in nanny to whom she'd pay $200-$300/week for full-time employment, two kids. She said she'd never had trouble finding someone to fill this role before but that now she was.

I think that is outrageously low and probably illegal. Am I wrong?

I saw someone advertising 9-11/hour, but when I talked to her, she wants to pay $200-250 for 40-50 hours. Yes, it's illegal, number of kids doesn't matter.

Rather than telling her it's illegal to hire a nanny for $200-300 per week, I would suggest steering her to the au pair program, which pays au pairs a $200 stipend for up to 45 hours per week.

Typical dishonesty. The low stipend is only a small part part of the total costs, not to mention the endless aggravation.

Official au pair costs are $375/week. It's more with unofficial costs. I don't think an au pair is actually cheaper than a live-in nanny. It's just a different experience - very different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just saw someone on my neighborhood listserv looking for a live-in nanny to whom she'd pay $200-$300/week for full-time employment, two kids. She said she'd never had trouble finding someone to fill this role before but that now she was.

I think that is outrageously low and probably illegal. Am I wrong?

I saw someone advertising 9-11/hour, but when I talked to her, she wants to pay $200-250 for 40-50 hours. Yes, it's illegal, number of kids doesn't matter.

Rather than telling her it's illegal to hire a nanny for $200-300 per week, I would suggest steering her to the au pair program, which pays au pairs a $200 stipend for up to 45 hours per week.

Typical dishonesty. The low stipend is only a small part part of the total costs, not to mention the endless aggravation.

Official au pair costs are $375/week. It's more with unofficial costs. I don't think an au pair is actually cheaper than a live-in nanny. It's just a different experience - very different.

I make a minimum of $600 per week for 50+ hours. I would say that yes, an au pair is cheaper.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just saw someone on my neighborhood listserv looking for a live-in nanny to whom she'd pay $200-$300/week for full-time employment, two kids. She said she'd never had trouble finding someone to fill this role before but that now she was.

I think that is outrageously low and probably illegal. Am I wrong?

I saw someone advertising 9-11/hour, but when I talked to her, she wants to pay $200-250 for 40-50 hours. Yes, it's illegal, number of kids doesn't matter.

Rather than telling her it's illegal to hire a nanny for $200-300 per week, I would suggest steering her to the au pair program, which pays au pairs a $200 stipend for up to 45 hours per week.

Typical dishonesty. The low stipend is only a small part part of the total costs, not to mention the endless aggravation.

Official au pair costs are $375/week. It's more with unofficial costs. I don't think an au pair is actually cheaper than a live-in nanny. It's just a different experience - very different.

I make a minimum of $600 per week for 50+ hours. I would say that yes, an au pair is cheaper.

So, with overtime accounted for, your live-in rate is approx $11/hr. Total cost of hosting an AP is $410 week and we use 40 hrs/wk, so avg rate for us is $10.24/hr - not that much of a discount IMO. A HF using the full 45 hrs would have a bigger discount though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just saw someone on my neighborhood listserv looking for a live-in nanny to whom she'd pay $200-$300/week for full-time employment, two kids. She said she'd never had trouble finding someone to fill this role before but that now she was.

I think that is outrageously low and probably illegal. Am I wrong?

I saw someone advertising 9-11/hour, but when I talked to her, she wants to pay $200-250 for 40-50 hours. Yes, it's illegal, number of kids doesn't matter.

Rather than telling her it's illegal to hire a nanny for $200-300 per week, I would suggest steering her to the au pair program, which pays au pairs a $200 stipend for up to 45 hours per week.

Typical dishonesty. The low stipend is only a small part part of the total costs, not to mention the endless aggravation.

Official au pair costs are $375/week. It's more with unofficial costs. I don't think an au pair is actually cheaper than a live-in nanny. It's just a different experience - very different.

I make a minimum of $600 per week for 50+ hours. I would say that yes, an au pair is cheaper.

So, with overtime accounted for, your live-in rate is approx $11/hr. Total cost of hosting an AP is $410 week and we use 40 hrs/wk, so avg rate for us is $10.24/hr - not that much of a discount IMO. A HF using the full 45 hrs would have a bigger discount though.

Unless you live in a state where overtime is required (like Maryland), families don't have to pay overtime for live-in nannies. My minimum rate is $12/hour for 1 child, 50+ hours, no housekeeping (including child's areas), no laundry, no cooking unless the child and I are doing it together and guaranteed 2 consecutive days off every week. When anything in that equation changes, my rate goes up. Last position was with twin toddlers, no housekeeping, children's laundry when I decided to do it, cooking when I wanted to do it, and my rate was roughly $14.50 per hour. Every family who has looked into an au pair has said that the nanny was more expensive, but when families always need more than 40 hours, the only way to do an au pair would be to supplement with a babysitter or get two au pairs.

I do know several families who decided to get au pairs instead. They use all 45 hours every week, the au pair gets the minimum for days off, doesn't go along for vacation or even to the restaurant, etc. For some au pairs, that's fine, and for a family trying to get cheap care, that the au pair they need.

[nannydebsays]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just saw someone on my neighborhood listserv looking for a live-in nanny to whom she'd pay $200-$300/week for full-time employment, two kids. She said she'd never had trouble finding someone to fill this role before but that now she was.

I think that is outrageously low and probably illegal. Am I wrong?

I saw someone advertising 9-11/hour, but when I talked to her, she wants to pay $200-250 for 40-50 hours. Yes, it's illegal, number of kids doesn't matter.

Rather than telling her it's illegal to hire a nanny for $200-300 per week, I would suggest steering her to the au pair program, which pays au pairs a $200 stipend for up to 45 hours per week.

Typical dishonesty. The low stipend is only a small part part of the total costs, not to mention the endless aggravation.

Official au pair costs are $375/week. It's more with unofficial costs. I don't think an au pair is actually cheaper than a live-in nanny. It's just a different experience - very different.

I make a minimum of $600 per week for 50+ hours. I would say that yes, an au pair is cheaper.

So, with overtime accounted for, your live-in rate is approx $11/hr. Total cost of hosting an AP is $410 week and we use 40 hrs/wk, so avg rate for us is $10.24/hr - not that much of a discount IMO. A HF using the full 45 hrs would have a bigger discount though.

Nannies are protected by the FLSA, which means a nanny is legally entitled to be paid at least minimum wage, either Federal or State, whichever is higher. In a few places in the US, LI nannies are also entitled to overtime, but that is the exception, not the general rule.

So an AP makes Federal minimum wage minus 40% for room and board, or $195.75/week for up to 45 hours. Program costs add about $175 to that amount, and then let's say all the "extras" (food, transport, and so on) are another $75/week. That means out of pocket costs for an AP are around $450/week, even though you pay program fees up front.

Now, if you hire a nanny to LI and earn minimum wage, she will actually earn $326.25 for a 45 hour week with no OT. You would likely not have any agency fees to pay, since no agency would place a minimum wage nanny, and you might look at about $75/week in extra costs, plus about $35 in employer taxes. So your total cost for a minimum wage LI nanny would be around $435/week, IF you could find such a rare unicorn.

And if you hire a LO nanny at minimum wage, she will earn $344.38/week, plus the additional $110 mentioned above, so $445/week total employer costs.

Now in the real world, no decent nanny will choose to work for minimum wage, so the actual cost of a nanny is much higher than the cost of an AP.