Anonymous wrote:It boggles my mind how there is such a disconnect between "this is what I pay my nanny" and "this is the only money my nanny has to live on".
I make 23k in a city with a cost of living that is probably 75% of DC's. It's really, really hard.
This completely. I think its easy to disassociate the whole "I'm asking someone to live on this" from "This is what I pay for childcare, and damn its expensive". I get that its expensive, but hiring an employee usually is. That is what you're doing when you hire a nanny. I also get the argument that its not an employer's responsibility to make sure their nanny can live on what they pay. And to some extent I agree with you. Its not necessary to provide a job that allows nanny to drive expensive cars or live in an expensive home, BUT I do believe that an employer is morally responsible, seeing as how they have chosen to hire someone, to provide at least enough to afford safe housing, and basic necessities. You owe at least that to a person giving up their time to care for your child. $23K isn't it.