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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think the real issue with nannying, as well as other semi-skilled jobs, is that there is no real career ladder. What seems like a great gig when you are 22, young and flexible feels like a dead end job at 40 when you are basically commanding about the same salary and doing the same work with the same unreliability.

It's up to the individual nanny to find a long term path within nannying. Teaching, running or working for a nanny agency, etc. are all good ideas. Nannies should be thinking about this from day 1.[/quote]

I think this is a good point and I agree with you to an extent. I think it's also fair to point out that there is a ladder within actual nannying itself, albeit a short one, that few nanny employers want to acknowledge.

For example, if you are going to employ a nanny for a single infant with little expectations beyond safe childcare, you can easily hire a young/inexperienced nanny offering low to average wages. When you start adding more qualifiers to your applicants, and more complications to the job, at a certain point you can't reasonably expect to pay average rates.

When you want to hire a nanny with 10 years of experience, a degree, and 6 exceptional references, isn't it fair for your applicants to expect pay and benefits beyond "entry level?" Vacation time is the most frustrating thing here. Everyone who hires a nanny wants to offer 2 weeks or less, even if the nanny they hire has 20 years of experience under her belt. Shouldn't experience reasonably come with increased benefits? If you can't offer beyond the basic wages and benefits, perhaps you should look at less experienced nannies?
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I think they do acknowledge it by paying more for experienced nannies. But like all things, buyers want to pay less, sellers want to earn more so it's a negotiation.

Again, arguing about what's "fair" gets you nowhere- everyone feels they should be paid more and get more vacation. What do you propose to do with the "should"s of this argument.[/quote]

Take a look at discussions on this board. No one is offering more for more experienced nannies. They ask, how much should I expect to pay for 1 kid, 2 kids, after school, etc. And no one says well how much experience are you requiring? It is commonly, and I believe wrongly, understood that it is the details of the job set the rate, not the qualifications of the nanny. The qualifications required are rarely considered when setting a rate or in the advice given here.

Any discussion about laws or standard practices are going to revolve around the ideas of fairness and what's right. I opened this thread to discuss. What do YOU propose? Or are you prepared to say the industry requires no improvement?[/quote]

The day we take discussions on this board is the day BOTH of us need to get our heads checked. Some nannies on here claim they get paid $35 an hour, some MBs say they won't pay over $12.  In reality it is always a negotiation. I can think of my friend down the street who pays $24 an hour for a very experienced nanny for her 3 kids and it's due to the experience the nanny has.

What do I think? I honestly don't think the industry of individual nannies makes a very compelling case for improvement. I don't think most nannies around here are underpaid for what they do. I DO think we need more government support for childcare, but not for nannies. We need child care centers that are affordable, with well-paid carers and workers who receive training and good benefits. That is the most efficient use of public funds. Single-family nannies should be the reserve of the super-wealthy, and the $35/hour nannies can take those jobs. [/quote]

I respect that point of view. I get flamed any time I say that nannies are for the wealthy. Wealthy people can afford to finance a decent lifestyle for another adult, which is what you are doing when you become an employer. When nannies became a middle class "thing" in this country, suddenly every person watching a child is a nanny, and every family thinks they can afford one.

If families had access to quality, flexible childcare, and caregivers were paid decently, that would address many of the issues. Less women would be duking it out over crap paying nanny jobs, and you'd have to pay a professional wage to the ones that remained.  [/quote]

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