How is it, that you want a college graduate nanny, but you don't want to compensate her enough to keep up on her student loans?

Same thing goes for any committed nanny who pursues continuing education (workshops, lectures, classes, whatever); she requires an income to pay for all that.

I make 17 an hour. 40 hours with normally 5 hours of overtime.

I have college loans, car payment and insurance, and rent. Honestly it was cheaper to live on my own than with a roommate plus it keeps me sane. i spend like 2700 a month. surprising I am doing fine.

I sit for others and earn other money it works...

Nothing entitles people to cheap "high quality" care. You do not normally get both in 1 package. Reality though is that high payiing nanny jobs are fewer; middle range jobs offer jobs to a much wider pool of candidates and those middle-range salary nanny jobs I bet are much more attractive than many of the other options available to those working those positions. Families should be generous, but also smart about what they can afford.

I can afford a mid-priced nanny share. We are foregoing other things to spend money on that. I could not afford my own nanny nor a high-priced share. should that mean our nanny who has worked for us for 5 years and annually expresses the hope to stay on longer should be let go?

When you outsource the childcare, you and/or your spouse, need to earn enough to actually support another human being, and have some change left over for yourself.

If you and/or your spouse don't pull in that kind of income, what entitles you to cheap, but high-quality childcare?

We are ALL for women getting ahead,

but NOT over the backs of other women,

unless you pay them a fair living wage.

Anonymous wrote:What nannies don't realize is that some starting salary lawyers don't even make 45,000 a year. I made less than that at my first law job. And law students usually have loans. You find ways to get by. I think some nannies on this forum think they should make more, but they don't realize that the employer can't always afford to pay more.

Don't have children if you can't afford them.

$15. an hour is UNEXCEPTABLE for an exceptional seriously experienced nanny of 20 years.

For parents who settle for bargain immigrant labor, we get what we pay for, just like in the rest of America. We think it's such a deal, until the child can't speak age-appropriate English, or has other problems down the road.

What you don't in your first year of working, you certainly make up for 10 and 20 years later. Here we are talking about a nanny who has done 20 years into her career, and is still expected to earn the same "flat" rate, as she did in the beginning.

What nannies don't realize is that some starting salary lawyers don't even make 45,000 a year. I made less than that at my first law job. And law students usually have loans. You find ways to get by. I think some nannies on this forum think they should make more, but they don't realize that the employer can't always afford to pay more.

Some nannies are married, others have roommates, others commute in from the burbs ....

My first job in SF paid nanny wages. I was young, everyone else I knew made about the same.

50 hours a week. Are you doing time and a half?
If you are:
40 * 15 = 600
10 * 22.50 = 225
825 * 52 weeks/year = $42,900 pre-tax

Are you sure she has student loans and car loans?

clothing: sales and cheap stores. I spend less than $200/year on new clothes. My stuff fits. I don't need new clothes.
food: she might shop at Aldi or Target for her groceries. If she cuts coupons and watches her spending, her grocery bills don't have to be crazy.
rent: at least one roommate. Does she live in the city or outside? If you're willing to live with more than one roommate, rent can be cheap. With one roommate, it's possible to find a place in the $1000/month range.
utilities: as long as you're mindful, it doesn't have to be sky high. I try to open windows/put on more layers/take off more layers. The big utility suck is cable/internet, and she might do without cable to lower the costs.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Our DC nanny works 50 hours a week.

Do you pay OT ($22.50) for all hours after 40? Nannies are hourly, not salaried, employees.

That breaks down to $39,000 annually, pre-tax, no? $15 x 50 hrs x 52 weeks?

That is doable, but not for a nanny who is paying off student loans, has a family of her own, or is trying to save - it is a paycheck-to-paycheck position for a young, single person who needs work experience before they can earn more.

OP here. Our DC nanny works 50 hours a week.

Just like any other "lower" paying job.

I'm in Los Angeles - guess what McDonalds employees make minimum wage. The background on the TV shows and movies make $8/hour.
And rent here is also high. Once saw a person renting their dining room for 575/month another was a sofa (just the sofa no storage for $250.
Lots of roommates and living paycheck to paycheck.

Just for kicks, would anyone care to sketch a hypothetical budget for a DC area live-out nanny earning $15 per hour? Guesstimate 30% for taxes, rent, utilities, student loans, car loans, food, clothing, etc., etc.
I am wondering how they do it.