After taxes its not that much really, if you make 16 its really 13

We gave $0.50/hour this year, which amounted to 3%. We started her at $17/hour for 2 kids (no errands, no housekeeping, very minimal cooking for kids only) which could be high-end or low-end depending on who's posting here. I love our nanny and think she is wonderful and would love to have given her $1/hour but my husband is a Fed and I just started a new job late last year which meant no raise for either of us. And we won't have a raise for the foreseeable future, so we just couldn't do it.

However, we did offer an additional week of paid vacation and also upped her guaranteed hours (mostly in light of the fact that she does in fact work more hours than previously). I wanted to offer something we could actually afford. I don't know what we'll do for next year...

Nannies generally are not familiar with norms in the corporate world, so the typical 3%-5% annual cost of living increase is foreign to most of them. They generally want a raise in terms of additional money per hour. I think a lot of them expect $1 raise per year, but a raise from $15 to $16 per hour works out to more than 6%, which may not be justified if nothing about the job has changed and her performance is good but not exceptional. If she's already above market for the position, you should not feel obligated to continue giving $1 per hour raises.

If you go with a flat amount that is less than a dollar per hour, be sure to explain how you're coming up with that number or why you think it's fair.

Anonymous wrote:$30 a week is NOT enough if your nanny is working 45 hours a week. That's a lame raise, if you ask me. Are you factoring in the 5 hours of overtime she works as well? My goodness...I feel bad for your nanny.

Agree

We used to give a 1.00 a week until our nanny was on the higher end of the range and then we switched over to a percentage. I am surprised by the strong responses that 30 is inadequate b/c none of us can make that determination unless we know the nanny's salary, location and responsibilities..... For what it is worth, the fed gov't has given 0 the last several years and the corporate world has been low unless you are in certain sectors. The reality is that the economy hasn't seen a great come back from the recession.

$30 a week is NOT enough if your nanny is working 45 hours a week. That's a lame raise, if you ask me. Are you factoring in the 5 hours of overtime she works as well? My goodness...I feel bad for your nanny.

OP what does your nanny make per week? You aren't giving enough details to give you a good answer. We have no way of knowing what 3% amounts to. In the corporate world, 3% is a low to typical, but acceptable increase. In the nanny world, raises are typically given as a function of the hourly rate, and $1/hour is common.

Anonymous wrote:I don't understand this distinction. $30 is some percentage of total wages too, right? Just as 3% works out to a flat amount.

+1

I mean... I agree with your spouse that raises are typically calculated as a percentage of income but it's just semantics at this point. What does $30/week translate to as a percentage of your nanny's income?

And no, it would not seem like "a lot" to me (in my experience $1/hr raise is fairly typical) but it isn't an offensive amount either - particularly at 35 hours/week.

I don't understand this distinction. $30 is some percentage of total wages too, right? Just as 3% works out to a flat amount.

Anonymous wrote:$30/week sounds fine. How many hours per week?

45

$30/week sounds fine. How many hours per week?

We generally give a raise of a dollar an hour each year, which works out to roughly a $50/week raise. We have also added additional benefits each year (like a health insurance contribution). We will hit the ceiling of what we can afford a little faster this way, but we're also hopefully keeping the nanny appropriately rewarded and satisfied.

A lot depends on how many hours your nanny is working so it's hard to know the significance of $30 without knowing the context.

Is there a big difference between 3% and $30? The goal of raises are to reward good performance, keep salaries in line with duties, and retention. You have to ask yourself if what you're paying is in line with what she deserves and what she could potentially find elsewhere. If you're paying a wonderful skilled nanny on the low end, and you offer less than a $1/hour increase, be prepared to lose her. If you're paying an average/below average nanny a really good rate, a small raise probably won't send her packing.

We are having this debate. My spouse thinks that it should be 3% but I think it should be a flat amount.

Would a $30 a week raise seem like a lot to a nanny?