Is the work of a nanny valuable or not?

[Anonymous]

This is kind of a spin off of the "my nanny is always sick" thread, but I didn't want to continue derailing that thread. We see on here so often these conflicting ideas that a nanny's job is both extremely important, so important that we must submit to background and credit checks, personal lines of questioning, and discriminatory hiring practices, yet at the same time we are told that we are unskilled laborers, hardly deserving of the low wages offered to us. We are continuously warned that fighting for increased employment protections and higher wages will kill our industry and put us all out of work.

Which is it? Is the care of your children not of the utmost importance? Are you not extremely careful and discerning about the person you hire to do the job? Or do you truly believe a nanny to be unskilled and therefore anyone could do the job? Let's not trot out the "barriers to entry" argument because we all know that for the real nanny jobs for parents that give a crap there are basic requirements that must be met to be considered.

[Anonymous]

There is lots of important and valuable work that doesn't earn a lot of money. Not sure why you think the two are so linked.

Do you think hedge fund managers do valuable work? Are they "worth" the millions they make every year?

Does a kindergarten teacher do valuable work?

[Anonymous]

Also, know that background and credit checks are routine for most jobs these days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is lots of important and valuable work that doesn't earn a lot of money. Not sure why you think the two are so linked.

Do you think hedge fund managers do valuable work? Are they "worth" the millions they make every year?

Does a kindergarten teacher do valuable work?

Why is that though, and how do you as an employer reconcile the two ideas and perhaps being personally responsible for perpetuating it?

To answer your questions, yes I do think a kindergarten teacher does incredibly important work, but I think their salary versus the hendge fund manager's salary show the value our society places on their work. Any work that is traditionally female and relating to the care of children is always undervalued.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also, know that background and credit checks are routine for most jobs these days.

Not for other "unskilled" jobs. The credit and background check requirements are for people whose work require a certain amount of responsibility and ethical sense. In faft, I did not undergo a background or credit check for my office job which puts me in one on one relatively unsupervised contact with children.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is lots of important and valuable work that doesn't earn a lot of money. Not sure why you think the two are so linked.

Do you think hedge fund managers do valuable work? Are they "worth" the millions they make every year?

Does a kindergarten teacher do valuable work?

Why is that though, and how do you as an employer reconcile the two ideas and perhaps being personally responsible for perpetuating it?

To answer your questions, yes I do think a kindergarten teacher does incredibly important work, but I think their salary versus the hendge fund manager's salary show the value our society places on their work. Any work that is traditionally female and relating to the care of children is always undervalued.

Because it's the world I live in. I am an MB, and my salary is based upon my market value, not my value to society. Which is why, when selecting a career, I paid a lot of attention to the market value of careers and why I am not a nanny or teacher. Life is unfair, for sure. As for perpetuating it, how often do you pay more for your services than you are charged? Do you hand out $$ to your local police officers or paramedics to make sure they are well paid? What about your kids teachers- do you give them a few thousand because of their value to society?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, know that background and credit checks are routine for most jobs these days.

Not for other "unskilled" jobs. The credit and background check requirements are for people whose work require a certain amount of responsibility and ethical sense. In faft, I did not undergo a background or credit check for my office job which puts me in one on one relatively unsupervised contact with children.

Any skilled or unskilled workers in a medium-large company usually gets a background check. Your company is potentially exposing themselves to risk by not performing them, but of course that's their choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is lots of important and valuable work that doesn't earn a lot of money. Not sure why you think the two are so linked.

Do you think hedge fund managers do valuable work? Are they "worth" the millions they make every year?

Does a kindergarten teacher do valuable work?

Why is that though, and how do you as an employer reconcile the two ideas and perhaps being personally responsible for perpetuating it?

To answer your questions, yes I do think a kindergarten teacher does incredibly important work, but I think their salary versus the hendge fund manager's salary show the value our society places on their work. Any work that is traditionally female and relating to the care of children is always undervalued.

Because it's the world I live in. I am an MB, and my salary is based upon my market value, not my value to society. Which is why, when selecting a career, I paid a lot of attention to the market value of careers and why I am not a nanny or teacher. Life is unfair, for sure. As for perpetuating it, how often do you pay more for your services than you are charged? Do you hand out $$ to your local police officers or paramedics to make sure they are well paid? What about your kids teachers- do you give them a few thousand because of their value to society?

I think there's a big difference between paying more than you're charge for something vs. being the employer that sets the actual salary. I do try to vote with my wallet and spend money at business that I know treat their employees well, and avoid those that don't, even if it means playing more for the product or service. I also support unions that fight for the best possible treatment for those professions that you mentioned, as well as legislation that will better protect childcare workers. Instead of saying life is unfair and contributing to the issues, I do my damnedest to be a part of the solution.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, know that background and credit checks are routine for most jobs these days.

Not for other "unskilled" jobs. The credit and background check requirements are for people whose work require a certain amount of responsibility and ethical sense. In faft, I did not undergo a background or credit check for my office job which puts me in one on one relatively unsupervised contact with children.

Any skilled or unskilled workers in a medium-large company usually gets a background check. Your company is potentially exposing themselves to risk by not performing them, but of course that's their choice.

This really isn't true. My teenaged brother didn't go through a background check to work at McDonalds or Target. I also never did when I worked those types of jobs. Those are the actual unskilled labor jobs. To compare being a nanny to those jobs is ridiculous, which was kind of the point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is lots of important and valuable work that doesn't earn a lot of money. Not sure why you think the two are so linked.

Do you think hedge fund managers do valuable work? Are they "worth" the millions they make every year?

Does a kindergarten teacher do valuable work?

Why is that though, and how do you as an employer reconcile the two ideas and perhaps being personally responsible for perpetuating it?

To answer your questions, yes I do think a kindergarten teacher does incredibly important work, but I think their salary versus the hendge fund manager's salary show the value our society places on their work. Any work that is traditionally female and relating to the care of children is always undervalued.

Because it's the world I live in. I am an MB, and my salary is based upon my market value, not my value to society. Which is why, when selecting a career, I paid a lot of attention to the market value of careers and why I am not a nanny or teacher. Life is unfair, for sure. As for perpetuating it, how often do you pay more for your services than you are charged? Do you hand out $$ to your local police officers or paramedics to make sure they are well paid? What about your kids teachers- do you give them a few thousand because of their value to society?

I think there's a big difference between paying more than you're charge for something vs. being the employer that sets the actual salary. I do try to vote with my wallet and spend money at business that I know treat their employees well, and avoid those that don't, even if it means playing more for the product or service. I also support unions that fight for the best possible treatment for those professions that you mentioned, as well as legislation that will better protect childcare workers. Instead of saying life is unfair and contributing to the issues, I do my damnedest to be a part of the solution.

You are buying a service one way or the other. How much extra do you pay your nail salon tech?

Let's turn this around the other way. How much do you think nannies should get paid, across the board? What is your proposal?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, know that background and credit checks are routine for most jobs these days.

Not for other "unskilled" jobs. The credit and background check requirements are for people whose work require a certain amount of responsibility and ethical sense. In faft, I did not undergo a background or credit check for my office job which puts me in one on one relatively unsupervised contact with children.

Any skilled or unskilled workers in a medium-large company usually gets a background check. Your company is potentially exposing themselves to risk by not performing them, but of course that's their choice.

This really isn't true. My teenaged brother didn't go through a background check to work at McDonalds or Target. I also never did when I worked those types of jobs. Those are the actual unskilled labor jobs. To compare being a nanny to those jobs is ridiculous, which was kind of the point.

If they were considered the same, you'd be making minimum wage. So no, they aren't the same. Nor are the paid the same.

According to this definition, nannying would be a semi-skilled job.

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/unskilled-work-semi-skilled-work-skilled-work-social-security-disability.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, know that background and credit checks are routine for most jobs these days.

Not for other "unskilled" jobs. The credit and background check requirements are for people whose work require a certain amount of responsibility and ethical sense. In faft, I did not undergo a background or credit check for my office job which puts me in one on one relatively unsupervised contact with children.

Any skilled or unskilled workers in a medium-large company usually gets a background check. Your company is potentially exposing themselves to risk by not performing them, but of course that's their choice.

This really isn't true. My teenaged brother didn't go through a background check to work at McDonalds or Target. I also never did when I worked those types of jobs. Those are the actual unskilled labor jobs. To compare being a nanny to those jobs is ridiculous, which was kind of the point.

If they were considered the same, you'd be making minimum wage. So no, they aren't the same. Nor are the paid the same.

According to this definition, nannying would be a semi-skilled job.

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/unskilled-work-semi-skilled-work-skilled-work-social-security-disability.html

There are lots of parents attempting to pay less than that! So the fact that I not personally making minimum wage doesn't change the fact that so many in our society and on this board consider nannies unskilled insignificant workers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, know that background and credit checks are routine for most jobs these days.

Not for other "unskilled" jobs. The credit and background check requirements are for people whose work require a certain amount of responsibility and ethical sense. In faft, I did not undergo a background or credit check for my office job which puts me in one on one relatively unsupervised contact with children.

Any skilled or unskilled workers in a medium-large company usually gets a background check. Your company is potentially exposing themselves to risk by not performing them, but of course that's their choice.

This really isn't true. My teenaged brother didn't go through a background check to work at McDonalds or Target. I also never did when I worked those types of jobs. Those are the actual unskilled labor jobs. To compare being a nanny to those jobs is ridiculous, which was kind of the point.

Unless your brother did this decades ago or just recently, yes he did.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/29/target-criminal-history-questions_n_4175407.html

And since McDonalds is a franchise, each store sets its own policies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, know that background and credit checks are routine for most jobs these days.

Not for other "unskilled" jobs. The credit and background check requirements are for people whose work require a certain amount of responsibility and ethical sense. In faft, I did not undergo a background or credit check for my office job which puts me in one on one relatively unsupervised contact with children.

Any skilled or unskilled workers in a medium-large company usually gets a background check. Your company is potentially exposing themselves to risk by not performing them, but of course that's their choice.

This really isn't true. My teenaged brother didn't go through a background check to work at McDonalds or Target. I also never did when I worked those types of jobs. Those are the actual unskilled labor jobs. To compare being a nanny to those jobs is ridiculous, which was kind of the point.

If they were considered the same, you'd be making minimum wage. So no, they aren't the same. Nor are the paid the same.

According to this definition, nannying would be a semi-skilled job.

http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/unskilled-work-semi-skilled-work-skilled-work-social-security-disability.html

There are lots of parents attempting to pay less than that! So the fact that I not personally making minimum wage doesn't change the fact that so many in our society and on this board consider nannies unskilled insignificant workers.

I think most people would agree that nannies are equal to waiters/flight attendants/furniture movers in terms of skill. No education or special training required, no special skills necessary.

And honestly, you are still missing the point. It doesn't MATTER what people consider nannies to be- salary isn't determined by social value or likability.

[Anonymous]

I also don't understand the OP's point. Nannying is very important, but the bar for entry to the profession is low. For every person who chose to be a professional nanny after getting a college degree or working their a$$ off learning about child development, etc., there are 15 women (at least) who fell into nannying because of a love for children, some child care skills, and the fact that there is no educational/training/certification barrier to entry to the field.

This also means the quality of jobs is similar. For every job that's structured like a professional job (ample PTO, healthcare, holidays, annual reviews/raises, paid legally, etc.) there are many that are structured more casually. Both parties, the employers and the employed, have to seek out the right fit.

We can argue about what nannies deserve, but with more benefits and higher salaries come greater expectations, too, for things like reliability.