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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]
Let's say, my husband makes 7 figures and I make $250K.  After taxes, that leaves me with $125K.  Assuming a 2 week bonus annually (and other random gifts/meals during the week), overtime, car stipend, and health insurance + employer taxes, I'm paying my nanny about $115K post-tax money a year.

Why would I work a stressful demanding job just to pay a nanny all but $10K of my salary, unless I REALLY loved my job and was anticipating a lot of upward mobility eventually (which is unlikely because as the lower paid spouse, I'm still doing a crapton of household management including handling nanny call-offs and other issues - I'm not exactly a comparatively stellar employee to those with a SAHP)? It just makes no financial sense.  And that's my point - there aren't any good answers, really, because I'm not going to tell someone what they are worth, but you are going to need to be a real value add to a family to demand $30/hour.

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First, 45 hrs a week at $30/hr comes to under $75K including OT. Say you give 2 bonuses of 1 week, that's under $3000. Health is whatever you want to set it at, but let's say $350/mo which is $4200 and brings it to ~82K. There is no car stipend, mileage is paid as used but you'd pay that doing the driving yourself or them using your car, that doesn't count. You don't need to pay for other gifts and food etc, but let's go ahead and say 3K to hiring it up to $85K. Let's not pretend that your taxes are part of their pay. Not all of the above us taxed, so ~$6000 in employer taxes, that's ~90K annually. So you're somehow adding $25K to your numbers that is extremely unnecessary.

Also, if your husband is earning 7 figures, I think you could afford to pay your nanny this amount because your income isn't the only one and his makes up for any loss in yours.

Plus, for many people, they don't use a nanny for the life of their child. They use their services for the first couple of years with the most development and then move on to preschool etc and might utilize PT help if still needed, but not FT. Infants/toddlers are the most work and at a crucial time, so it makes sense to pay a high amount for their care knowing it will be limited in length. I also don't stick.around for years on end to get multiple raises over time, so it's baked into the hourly rate to start with something good that doesn't need to have much room for financial growth.[/quote]

OK, I think your math is off (you're forgetting payroll company, taxes are about 10% of nannies' salary, and we're saying for a person to make $250K, they need at least 50 hours of childcare, so 45 hours including OT is just wrong).  But regardless, let's say I'm taking home $35K after taxes + nanny.  The question I have is - why would I do that?  I'll just SAHM, and hire an excellent grad student or college student babysitter who doesn't come with the baggage of a full-time employee. Most nannies I've interviewed can keep the kid alive, but take a look at their own kids' accomplishments and it's not exactly what people making 7 figures are hoping their kids to turn out like.

It's not that I can't afford the nanny.  It's that I don't think the nanny is worth $30/hour - unless you're making my life remarkably easier, now I have to manage you AND work 50 hours/week.

My point still stands.  You're getting close to pricing yourself out of the market at $30/hour, so the real question is what do you offer beyond what the similarly educated (to her 7 figure making husband) SAHM does?  If you're thinking we are just surviving in the workforce for a few years, I ask you - why would we?  We're already mommy-tracked because of the sheer amount of legwork it is to manage the nanny, so it's not like we've got massive room for growth.  Kids still get out of school before the end of the workday.  And my 7-figure making husband isn't really thrilled about the kids doing aftercare, since you know, I'm taking home $35K per year after paying for childcare expenses.

And on top of that, you're saying you're not trying to stick around for years on end.  So I just have to search again in a few years?  No thanks.[/quote]

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