Is it possible...

[Anonymous]

Our last nanny was fantastic - she had a degree from a top university in Early Childhood Development and had been a preschool teacher at a very desirable school for years. I love her and she is still a close family friend and still sees my daughter every week (DD is six and in school). She is also $28 an hour now and happily working for a wealthy family that gave her a new car and covers her healthcare insurance. We were fortunate to have her when we did and I will always love her.

So now, our world is very different. I am pregnant with my second child and our finances have been slashed (both had job changes after layoffs last year) so I can't afford a nanny of her caliber now.

When my maternity leave ends, I would like a loving, caring nanny to care for my infant and older DD (when not is school) as well as do pick up and drop off for older DD.

Is it possible to find a $20 an hour nanny who will stay? She doesn't have to have an education or teaching experience but she does need to be able to work legally.

Please - I know the value of a nanny. I know everyone deserves a living wage. I am just asking if it is even worth looking.

We live in a major city, btw.

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

You definitely can in D.C. We had a fantastic on the books and experienced nanny for that much. I think the key is to make sure you think through all of the extra costs including overtime when you make a budget. Are you also planning to only offer $20 when your older child is home for the summer? If that's the case I would budget so that you offer a little less for one and more when the second is home. Or if the nanny agrees you could keep the same weekly rate all through the year. As long as you have a clear idea of what you can offer and a contract, it will be up to the nannies to decide if they want to take the job.

And of course you will get plenty of nannies on here saying it is too low but I absolutely think you can find someone qualified.

[Anonymous]

Yes, it is possible. More possible if you could hire illegal but still possible.

[Anonymous]

Yes. But most nannies with 10+ years of experience will ask for $22-$24. I will say push it up to $22. Most nannies that are making $20 are still looking for another job. But is you are looking for some with less years of childcare experience then $20 is good.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely. I hired someone for $15 an hour who had zero nannying experience and no college, for one infant. Six years later that same nanny earns 22 an hour for two kids - one full time, and one part-time.

It was great to have someone who was totally open to the ways we wanted to raise our child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our last nanny was fantastic - she had a degree from a top university in Early Childhood Development and had been a preschool teacher at a very desirable school for years. I love her and she is still a close family friend and still sees my daughter every week (DD is six and in school). She is also $28 an hour now and happily working for a wealthy family that gave her a new car and covers her healthcare insurance. We were fortunate to have her when we did and I will always love her.

So now, our world is very different. I am pregnant with my second child and our finances have been slashed (both had job changes after layoffs last year) so I can't afford a nanny of her caliber now.

When my maternity leave ends, I would like a loving, caring nanny to care for my infant and older DD (when not is school) as well as do pick up and drop off for older DD.

Is it possible to find a $20 an hour nanny who will stay? She doesn't have to have an education or teaching experience but she does need to be able to work legally.

Please - I know the value of a nanny. I know everyone deserves a living wage. I am just asking if it is even worth looking.

We live in a major city, btw.

Thanks.

What city?

[Anonymous]

It depends entirely on which city. We are in the SF Bay area, and $20 would be a challenge here for two kids, since the going share rate is now $24-$26/hr. For one child, it would be easily doable ($17-$20/hr). Our friends in DC pay a little less than that for their shares so it might be possible there.

How many hours is your older child in school? Could you set up a share, if the hours are long enough? We had a great situation with our older child where our share partners employed the nanny for 10 hours a day and we used 8 a day. The rate was the same for all 10 hours, but they paid both halves for the first and last hour, when the nanny dropped off and collected their older child from preschool. Obviously, it's harder to make that work if the preschool is only a few hours or a few days a week, but it's worth considering if it might make the overall cost feasible.